2 

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1832-1882. 

SeMI-QeNTENNIAL goMMENGEMENT 

OF 

LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 



DR. HECKMAN'S ADDRESS, 

WITH A REPORT OF THE 

Proceedings of Commencement Week. 

JXTNE: 25-28, 1882. 



..P 



^v 



AN ADDRESS 



Semi-centennial Gommengement 



LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 



Delivered June 27th, 1882, 



Rev. GEORGE C. HECKMAN, D. D, 

Fornnerly President of Hanover College. 



Printed by request of the Board of Trustees of Lafayette College. 



EASTON, PA. 

1882. 



•^ v? ^y ^^ O 



,7 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL ADDRESS. 

LAFAYETTE COLLEGE, 

. JUNE 27th. 1882. 



THE period in the midst of which fell the semi-centennial 
of the Republic was marked by activities and events 
thoroughly in sympathy with the Protestant genius of our 
American institutions. It is a section of our social and ecclesi- 
astical annals of considerable interest to the student of the 
history of education. If that student is a Presbyterian, he will 
not need to blush for the mark his Church makes in that his- 
tory. Just before 1825 the Presbyterians of Kentucky, true to 
the traditions of the Reformation and their denominational pre- 
cedents, had laid the foundations of Centre College at Danville. 
During the national semi-centennial, and at the very time that 
the citizens of Easton, under Presbyterian leadership, were 
founding Lafayette College, the Presbyterian pioneers -of Indi- 
ana, fresh from the work in Kentucky, in which they had 
shared, initiated the movement for a college at Hanover, and a 
few years after laid the foundation of another at Crawfordsville. 
Lafayette and Hanover Colleges both assumed full collegiate 
form in 1832, and were the twin children of the same Presby- 
terian mother. 

At the head of all these almost simultaneous academic enter- 
prises was that Scotcli-Irish element which has done as much 
as any other nationality in diffusing and establishing the liberal 
ideas and progressive institutions of the Reformation among 
the Anglo-American colonies and States. Narrow provincial 
vanity must not be allowed to depreciate the just colonial promi- 
nence of these heroic and pious Scotch-Irishmen, who made their 
axes and swords, their learning, logic and faith, ring as creative 
potencies in formulating history and moulding States, from Nova 

3 



4 DB. HECKMAN'S ADDRESS. 

Scotia to Georgia. Let this enlogiura go from one of another 
nationality as a passing but deserved tribute to these brave and 
sturdy Calvinists, to whom, with others of diverse nativity but 
common faith, our American civilization owes its birthright — 
a debt which j^osterity can pay only by preserving these free 
institutions from exotic infidelity and libertinism. 

The penetrating and moulding idea of education, maintained 
by these founders of colleges, was God as the supreme concep- 
tion of thought, the infinite factor in science, the highest aim of 
consecration, and the utmost boundary of reverence and love. 
Most diligent students of the material and spiritual creation, 
eager for truth from whatever direction, and quick to discover 
God in every imprint of nature and history, they knew nothing 
and accepted nothing about God which was not in harmony with 
His own inspired^ infallible revelation. " A skeptic once re- 
quested pastor Fisch, of Lyons, France, to tell him the best book 
on the evidences of Christianity. His answer was : ' Read 
Paul's Letter to the Eomans.^ " There is a world of wisdom in 
this reply. The way to know God is to read His Book. Wal- 
ter Scott, when dying, said : " Bring the Book." Some one 
said, " What book ?" His reply was : " There is but one Book 
—the Bible." 

Xow, the typical distinction of the educational system of the 
Reformation and of American Colonial Christianity is the Bible. 
Nor was this Bible hidden as a saintly relic, nor worshiped 
as a pagan fetich, nor to be occasionally exhibited as an heir- 
loom. Nor did they define its place merely as " the only infallible 
rule of faith and practice " for private life, though that is the 
very highest and best use that any man can make of the Bible; 
they also planted it in politics as the highest law of the Common- 
wealth, as in religion it was the sole foundation of creed. But, 
what is more and specially relevant now, they gave the Bible 
a distinct literary place in the academy as the highest educational 
force. They held that no study in the curriculum possessed even 
approximate power in the development of the natural faculties ; 
that nothing could so educate the student into his possible 
breadth and strength of life ; and that no arrangement of secu- 
lar science could produce a physical and psychical cultus equal to 
that of the Bible, properly recognized as a text-book and in its 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 5 

ethical place in other studies. Thank God ! the created universe 
is large and multigenerous and pregnant with continuous births 
of knowledge, and we invoke Divine benedictions upon all hon- 
est and scliolarly investigation and search through all the secret 
places of nature, and truth from any depository of creation is to 
us the voice of the Shepherd whom we follow. Ancient and 
modern literature, science and art, do not appeal in vain to our 
natural and acquired tastes and are potent instruments in the 
cultivation we have gained. Faith can read their pages without 
fear and rise from their study with freshened vigor and larger 
vision. But the Bible has ever been the thesaurus of that science 
which is most valuable in the bodily, mental and moral develop- 
ment of man, and to-day, when knowledge runs to and fro upon 
the earth, and the boundaries of human intelligence are spread- 
ing away with an eagerness and expansiveness which inspire awe, 
the Bible still holds its literary and ethical supremacy, its regal 
place among the ever-multiplying themes of human thought. 

At a recent gathering of the Sons of New England in Phila- 
delphia, the venerable ex-President of Williams College, Dr. 
Mark Hopkins, said: "The true aim of the highest education 
is to give character rather than knowledge; to train men to he 
rather than to hioru:' Now just such is the education of the 
Bible, a consummation which in its highest degree is simply 
impossible without the Bible, taught in the honest and devout 
spirit of the Reformed Church. It is not said that manliness 
cannot be found among scholars outside of the walls of a Chris- 
tian college, nor that a noble, admirable, exemplary character 
may nut be formed outside of a Christian curriculum. Ancient 
and modern history has embalmed the names of many such amid 
your delightful recollections. But what is asserted is this : that 
we have no force in education that so naturally and commonly 
develops such manhood as the Bible, and that we have no lit- 
erary institutions which are so eminently successful in forming 
the highest style of character as arc those Christian schools 
the coriier-stone of whose curriculum is the Bible, and whose 

motto is, SCIENTIA PIETATI ANCILLANS. 

So, too, when it is said " that the true aim of the highest educa- 
tion is to give character rather than knowledge ; to train men to 
be rather than to know,'' it is not meant that less attention is paid 



6 DB. HECKMAN'S ADDRESS. 

to literary cultivation in the Christian than in the secular col- 
lege. The highest aim implies all lower legitimate ends; supe- 
rior culture involves all desirable elements of knowledge ; and 
hence the Academy, the keystone of whose arch is the Bible, 
demands that its curricula should be exhaustive of all that 
is valuable in the literature of all science, not falsely so-called. 
The manhood at which the Christian school aims, then, 
embraces the most symmetrical and complete education of 
body, mind and soul, in which, by the right of nature and 
the will of God, the ethical shall ever dominate the physical 
and intellectual ; and the instrument of this moral culture shall 
ever be the infallible dogma of the Word of God. Nor do we 
hesitate to declare that what is so plausible in theory has been 
abundantly demonstrated by experiment : that the Christian 
school, with a larger and sounder learning, imparts a more vigor- 
ous manhood and a more rounded and consequently richer char- 
acter than the legitimate product of secular education ; and further, 
any system of education weakens just in the ratio as the ethics of 
its curriculum depart from the moral principles of the Bible. Sec- 
ularity in education, public and private, has impoverished and 
enfeebled the Academy by ignoring, of necessity, the positive 
instruction of the spiritual, the regal element of human nature. 
It is a Satanic inspiration, a madness of malignant atheism, with 
which our public education has been more or less inoculated ; 
and, illogical and irrational as it is undevout and materialistic, 
it ought to receive, as it deserves, the anatliema of every patriot 
and Christian and the determined opposition of American society. 

The College of the Reformation is the guardian of those 
political and religious ideas which the Reformation conferred 
on European civilization ; and to it is largely committed that 
development of human destiny whose unfolding began with that 
eventful epoch of history. The type of education evolved in 
that wonderful emancipation of mind, if so well, is nowhere 
better preserved than in the American Church College. With- 
out vanity, and with a sense of the responsibility as well as of the 
glory of the fact, we assert that no better example of this system 
can be found than that which our honored Alma Mater affords. 

Among the historic memorabilia that marked the close of the 
first quarter of this century was the arrival of General Lafayette 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 7 

at New York, August 16th, 1824. This event, which stirred to 
their very depths the hearts of the grateful Americans, suggested 
the happy baptism of the infant college. My first and neces- 
sarily faint recollections of Lafayette College are connected with 
the oiDeniug of the institution in a large building on the south 
side of the Lehigh. It was in marching from this building that 
my eyes were fascinated by a procession of Lafayette students. 
The first great venture from the protection and guidance of the 
maternal apron-string was in following that bewildering and 
enticing march. You might call it a '' boy constrictor," the 
way it drew me and others along Pomfret, now Third Street. 
It was on the Fourth of July, 1833, in the patriotic spirit of 
the times selected for the laying of the corner-stone of the first 
building on this site. Old South College. The faculty and stu- 
dents marched under the leadership of President Junkin and 
the Society marshals to the rendezvous in Centre Square. This 
" Grand Plaza " was quite different from what it is now. In- 
stead of squaring the circle the later Eastonians have circled the 
Square. Then, the old English Court-House, built by the 
Penns after a British model, stood, where it ought to have been 
allowed to remain, in the centre now occupied by the beautiful 
fountain. The corners of the Square were great grass plats, 
across which ran diagonal paths, in dry weather used to cut 
the corners. On these green lawns the children romped, the mili- 
tary met for parade, political mass-meetings convened, and some- 
times an open-air religious service was held. On the esplanade, if 
that is not too pompous a title for the broad brick walks sur- 
rounding the Court-House, hucksters would on court and elec- 
tion days and on the "Glorious Fourth " retail cakes and beer, 
oysters and chestnuts, peanuts and fire-crackers, according to 
the season of those varied and delicious fruits. The curbstones 
of this pavement were guarded and ornamented by great stone 
posts with pyramidal tops and of varying height, over which 
the boys of those times would play leap-frog, and no boy of 
spirit ever stopped until he could take the tallest pillar with a 
stand-jump. When ten or a dozen boys would round the 
Court-House in these leaps it was a spectacle on which Olympic 
athletes would have deigned to smile encouragement. The 
County House, a monument of the massive masonry of the 



8 BR. BECKMAN'S ADDRESS. 

period, which has also been ruthlessly removed, stood on the 
southeast corner, and directly opposite, north across the Square, 
.stood White's Hotel, the "Tabard Inn " of classic Easton. The 
only other public building was the market house, facing north 
on Third Street, toward College Hill. 

Now you may form a picture of the scene in this American 
forum on that memorable July Fourth, on which the boy of 
eight years looked, not forgetting the fire-crackers and hucksters 
busily taking advantage of the patriotic prodigality of unso- 
phisticated youth under necromancy of cake and beer. Ah ! 
the dear old Square, with its green, triangular lawns and quaint 
hall of justice and rural sports, will never witness such a scene 
again. The noisy brass six-pounders, captured in the French 
war, had ceased thundering from Mt. Jefferson, and the 
merry bells from church and school-house had rung out the 
pealing welcome of "Independence Day." Here the faculty 
and students of the young College met the military companies, 
known as the "Grays" and the "Blues," and civil officers and 
citizens, men, women and children. These composed the grand 
procession which moved toward the proud elevation henceforth to 
be known as " College Hill." In the chief cities of our country 
I have witnessed and marched in many grand processions since 
then ; but none ever appeared so novel, so wonderful, as this. 
Undoubtedly the notable man, the priest, seer and warrior of 
that moving crowd, a man truly great, was President Junkin, 
who stepped bravely on, as if his prophetic spirit beheld a vision 
of the scene we to-day witness. Many proud days did he have 
since that, days which gave him an honored name on the literary, 
religious and patriotic rolls of his country. But perhaps from 
Paradise he to-day looks back with us upon that Fourth of 
July, 18S3, as the dearest, brightest day of his life. 

The procession, the prophecy of the greater things of this 
semi-centennial, moved up the old romantic road, now obliterated, 
but which then climbed the side of the hill and led on to "Lovers' 
Lane," one of the delightful walks of tender hearts and con- 
templative minds, long since gone among the "things that were." 
May one revisiting these classic shades be permitted, as fond 
memory sweeps the harmonies of the past, to quote the language 
of the ancient Romans and cry, " Ilium fuit " f Ah ! the " Ilium 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 9 

fuits !" how they crowd with mingling smiles and tears upon the 
recollection. " Tempus fugit," as the ancient Roman professors 
were accustomed to say to their students. 

On these heights the axes of my great-grandfather were the 
first to fall on the thick trees. Where the plows of three genera- 
tions of his family had turned up the rich soil, Dr. Junkin, in 
the early June of 1833, broke ground for these foundations, and 
on the morning of the 27th, just forty-nine years ago to-day, 
the first stone was laid, by the Hon. James M. Porter, another 
of the historic names of Easton and Lafayette. On the Fourth 
of July, one week later, surrounded by the beauty and chivalry, 
the piety and learning, the age and youth, of Easton, and by 
natural scenery not to be surpassed. President Junkin laid the 
corner-stone. I gazed upon him with boyish admiration ; he 
was to me the one man illustrious in the scene, and it seems as 
though I even now feel the air vibrate with the thrill of that 
shrill eloquence, which, once heard, could never be forgotten. 
To my youthful eyes, as he stood by that corner-stone, he seemed 
an apostle and prophet, surrounded by a great crowd of wit- 
nesses representing all the martyred and patriotic dead of the 
Christian ages. There was no flinching then in fidelity to great 
Christian principles, no want of sublimity of faith amid those 
feeble beginnings, as with hope almost only in the God of the 
faithful and the charities of Jesus, he laid that humble founda- 
tion-stone which now bears the glorious superstructure upon 
which our senses dwell in these happier days. Not without the 
broad charity of Paul and Luther, and energized by their sub- 
lime belief, with all the religious patriotism of Elijah and Knox, 
George Junkin laid the walls of Lafayette College broad and 
deep on the only educational basis which is worthy the confi- 
dence of American citizens or the benefaction of Christian 
patriots. Though, with the exception of the present historic 
administration, his successors never rose to the glowing confidence 
of his inspired enthusiasm, they were ever faithful to the Chris- 
tian 'origin and type of the College, and Lafayette, in curricula 
and class-room, on platform and pulpit, has ever been true to 
the sublime aim of its founders, to the principles of the Reforma- 
tion and the spirit of American civilization. 

Did time permit, it would be the grateful work of loyal rev- 



10 DB. HECKMAN'S ADDRESS. 

erence and affection to speak with equal and deserved fullness 
of the distinguished men who stood by Dr. Junkin's side that 
day and gave him, in the same Christian and patriotic faith and 
spirit, that support without which his effort must have failed. 
Such men were the venerable and stately McKeen ; the majestic 
Porter, ISTestor of the bar of Northampton ; the learned and 
saintly Jones; the faithful, evangelical Gray; the gentle, 
devoted Wolf, and others ; men of ethnical diversities, but all 
Aryans, Americans and Christians, bound together as one by 
the highest and most durable ethical affinities. I leave them 
here all the more easily because they have found embalmment 
among the " Men of Lafayette " by the historic pens of Coffin 
and Owen. 

As on that bright and memorable dav the civic, academic and 
military procession withdrew from the sacred planting of a little 
seed-germ that in half a century was to become a great tree, 
surpassing their most sanguine hopes and most prayerful faith, 
the small boy, your speaker to-day, remained awhile, awed by 
the strange ceremonies he had witnessed and by the words of 
heroic faith and holy aspiration and hopeful prophecy that had 
fallen from the anointed lips of Wolf and Junkin, and, what 
was natural, sobered somewhat by the unfamiliar distance that 
stretched from the now sacred mount to his home, a whole mile 
away. Could he have had the vision of a seer, he might have 
looked southward far beyond the Musconetcong Mountains, and 
seen another boy playing out his Fourth of July among the pines 
of the New Jersey Salem (almost New Jerusalem), a son of Jesse, 
whom God was rearing to take up the arrested and languishing 
enterprise of our Samuel, and endow, by his theocratic faith and 
courage, these classic heights with the exceeding glory of the 
transfiguration we to-day behold. 

My next vivid recollection of Lafayette College is in connec- 
tion witli the commencement exercises of September 26th, 1838. 
Again from the northeast corner of Third and Ferry Streets, 
where now stands Masonic Hall, I gazed upon a procession of 
students on their way to St. John's Lutheran Church. Then 
my heart awoke to the consciousness of a great aspiration, viz. : 
to become a student of Lafayette and march in such a proces- 
sion. Young gentlemen, especially those of modest ambition, 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. H 

you little know the greatness to which you may be born, the 
sublimity of possibility in the evolution of life. 

" Some are born great, some achieve greatness, 
and some have greatness thrust upon them." 

Some of us have experienced this thrust of greatness in a small 
way, in a narrow arena, so to speak. It was not among my 
modest dreams on that day of awakening ambition that in fewer 
years than Jacob served for the dark-eyed Rachel, I, arrayed in 
all the glory of a satin sash with silk fringe a foot long, and a 
satin covered baton with a miniature rosette on each end, fast- 
ened by a silver spangle — even I — should twice marshal longer 
processions, once to the Society Literary Contest and once during 
Commencement Week. Yet that achievement is a historic 
fact : vide the record of the Literary Society, the programme 
of the day, and the reports in the Whig and Journal, the 
A rgus and the Sentinel. Alas ! that such days are not 
immortal ! What an ignis-fatuus is ambition ! How ephemeral 
earthly grandeur ! " Uneasy rests the head that wears a crown." 
In the classic phraseology of " the ancient Romans," if the 
quotation here is not a usurpation of others' rights, sic transit 
gloria mundi. 

There were but two graduates that day, David Coulter and 
Benjamin F. Stem. Dr. Stem received all his literary degrees 
from his Alma Mater, spent his life chiefly in the vicinity of 
his place of birth and education in civil and literary services, 
became well known at the annual college gatherings of late 
years, and died and was buried among the familiar scenes of his 
life. The Rev. Dr. Coulter became a pioneer in the then far oif 
Missouri, and spent the whole life of an arduous and able minis- 
try there, and died four years ago " greatly esteemed in every 
community in which he lived." Something, not now remem- 
bered, in David Coulter's commencement speech confirmed my 
purpose to prepare for college. I longed in after years to meet 
him, but never did. I have to thank him for the unintended 
but none the less real benefit conferred in the practical and val- 
uable impression made by his graduating address upon an eagerly 
listening boy of thirteen. To-day in the reading-room I gazed on 
a framed copy of the programme of those far-off commencement 
exercises on which was printed this legend : 



12 DB. HECKMAN'S ADDRESS. 

"Adieu, ye scenes, where noblest pleasures dwell ! 
Ye happy seats, ye sacred walls. Farewell !" 

I was now becoming acquainted with the students, first as 
teachers in the Sabbath-school, attendants at church, and visitors 
at my father's house and elsewhere; afterward visiting them in 
their rooms and halls, until this literary intercourse bore fruit 
in my matriculation at sixteen under the presidency of Dr. Yeo- 
mans, just inaugurated. To President Yeomans I wish to pay a 
tribute of personal gratitude. With all honest deference to the 
scholastic ability of the successive faculties of Lafayette, I do not 
think any possessed a teacher superior to Dr. Yeomans. He was 
an educator in the true etymological sense of the term. His 
touch on a student's mind was like the rod of Moses on the foun- 
tain hidden in the rock. He could make more out of the native 
furniture of a pupil than any teacher I ever knew, and I have 
had some famous teachers, a fact without any reflection on them, 
for they have also had some great scholars. If there was any 
latent force in a student, Dr. Y^eomans would educate it; you 
know what I mean — educo, to draw out. He left no waste, 
unemployed material in any of his boys. He educated and built 
up everything in them that had worth and use. I wish it would 
do to bring forward some specimens of his glorious and wonder- 
ful power. But as modesty has thus far been busy to restrain, 
so now charity and prudence whisper, " Silence is golden." But 
this orator and scholar was indeed no common educator. If the 
preaching of Dr. Junkin inspired the hearts of his students with 
theocratic faith, pious courage and consecrated zeal. Dr. Yeomans 
quickened their rational nature to a sense of the nobleness of 
intellectual exertion and the glory of scholastic triumphs to a 
degree they had never experienced before. His mental touch 
was like the wand of a fairy, or better and truer in some, like 
the trump of a resurrection. It is a pleasure, almost worshipful, 
to dwell upon the memory of one of whom an alumnus writes 
me as " that truly great man. Dr. Yeomans." 

With tender and reverent affection does our recollection turn 
to President Charles W. Nassau, the learned Christian, the con- 
scientious teacher, the saintly friend. In our day he was the 
Professor of the Latin and Greek languages. The unsophisti- 
cated boy is terribly frightened at the awful conditions by which 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 13 

college authority barricades the gateway of the temple of 
l^nowledge. When Prof. Nassau gently drew the undersized 
boy of sixteen to his side, and quieted his fears and anxieties 
into that composure which made examination easy to one 
really prepared, and the narrow gate of the temple a royal 
highway, the grand, venerable, stately Christian gentleman and 
scholar made another of those many conquests of respect and 
affection which he so readily won and never lost. Many grown 
men, fathers and grandfathers now, still live to bless the benig- 
nant Providence which laid the mouldino- hand of Charles W. 
Nassau upon their character and life. Nor will your speaker 
forget that when, a youth of eighteen, he united with the Church, 
it was the hand of Dr. Nassau that first gave him fraternal 
welcome to the court of Christ. 

If less is said here of President McLean, it is because I knew 
him less intimately, meeting him but occasionally during a 
vacation, but he was a man who would always make the meeting 
something pleasant to be remembered. He was recalled a few 
days ago by the reprint in the Cincintiati Gazette of the pro- 
gramme of the graduating exercises of his class in Ohio Univer- 
sity in 1827. Whenever an alumnus of Lafayette College did 
meet Dr. Mcl^ean, he ahvays received a most eager and genial 
welcome from one who could be young with the youngest and 
at home in any presence whatever, and whose unquestioned 
abilities and sincere services were ever at your command, as they 
were devoted with unwearied energy and brilliant, though tem- 
porary, success to our Alma Mater. 

Whether it was because of different temperament in the dis- 
tinguished gentlemen themselves, or because as an alumnus grows 
older he is admitted to presidential society on more familiar 
terms, the later presidents of Lafayette have appeared more 
genial and confidential. Dr. Junkin did not find social famil- 
iarity with students easy, and seemed much absorbed in abstracted 
consciousness of some larger world of thought and enterprise, 
where he lived much alone. Dr. Yeomans was respected even 
to fear, not of the man, but of his masterful will, and was one 
whom the student dreaded to encounter with an opposing view 
or wish ; for he penetrated, measured and weighed every adoles- 
cent specimen whom the course of collegiate tides brought before 



14 BB. HECKMAN'8 ADDRESS. 

him ; and he had a wonderful dialectic power of convincing a 
student against his will and holding him to his convictions, 
sending him away overwhelmed with compliment and defeat. 
If space allowed, it would be amusing and profitable to relate 
some instances of his gentle, persuasive, irresistible force. The 
only victory the writer ever scored was in a case where his con- 
sent to a contrary choice was necessary, and which he escaped 
by flight to the masterly inactivity of a secluded retreat among 
New Jersey hills. But if Dr. Yeoraans was standing in the 
company of magnates of Church or State, and an old student 
happened by, there was no cold look of recognition, but the quick 
smile and friendly call and cordial hand. Now all this elaborate 
retrospect is intended to introduce President G. Wilson McPhail, 
whom we hold in respectful memory and fraternal regard. A 
courteous Christian and popular preacher, it Avas delight as well 
as profit to meet him in the walks of society or sit under his 
ministry. In the class-room of an institution which has always 
been favored with eminent teachers, he established a reputation 
for scholarship which will never be forgotten in the grateful 
affection and admiration of his students and will survive 
through all the future annals of the College. He also won the 
respect and secured the friendship of the alumni graduated under 
his predecessors. We look back with cherished remembrance 
to his ever prompt and genial welcome and to the frequent 
hours spent in the social hospitalities and the literary relaxations 
of his sanctum. 

We enter the departments of instruction, and now the names 
crowd painfully on our difficult but necessary selection and brief 
mention — not less difficult because, thank God! so many of these 
eminent men still survive. In mathematics and natural philoso- 
phy we at once recall Charles F. McCay, LL. D., the first 
incumbent of the chair, an earnest Christian, a ripe scholar 
and a forcible teacher. Love and admiration are alike stirred 
at every recollection of the Hon. Washington McCartney, "the 
scholar, jurist. Christian," whose lofty scorn would burst like 
lava on any attempt at deception or fraud in the class-room, but 
who was ever just and tender to sincerity, helpful and patient 
with struggling mediocrity, and fair and generous to faithful 
students whose tastes and talents led them to prefer other depart- 



SEMI-CENTE2^mAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 15 

ments to his own. Even these his wide and varied attainments, 
hisbrilh'ant genius, and large, loving nature enabled him to give 
invaluable and ever-ready help. The venerated triad is com- 
plete with Dr. James H. Coffin, the glory of whose name and 
fame, known in every school of science, shall ever rest in halo 
over Lafayette. Last Saturday afternoon I stood by his grave 
and read, with uncovered head, the honest epitaph : " An origi- 
nal contributor to science, an enthusiastic teacher, and a consist- 
ent Christian." Full and deserved as this eulogium is, it yet 
gives but an imperfect conception of the wealth of character of 
this distinguished savant. As I stood by his grave a squirrel 
ran up the path to my feet and looked fearlessly up into my face, 
as if it felt no harm could come from one who had tears to shed 
over the tomb of the loving, generous Coffin. The remains of 
McCartney and Coffin lie near together, and, as I read the 
inscriptions on their monuments, I felt that there was much 
truth, after all, in monumental panegyric ; here all that is graven 
is true, but how little, after all, of what was true in these two 
great lives is told here. 

In the department of languages, besides the already mentioned 
Nassau, well remembered and cherished names throng upon us : 
tlie venerable Cunningham, whose tall form still lingers among 
the lakes and hills of his native Scotland ; our martyred mission- 
aries, Lloyd, of China, and Ijoewenthal, of India; and, looming 
grandly up among them all, the majestic Lyman Coleman, whose 
memory on last Sabbath night received from an able pen and 
loving heart the noble and elaborate tribute which it deserves 
from every friend of learning and Christianity. 

The names of many distinguished teachers still living — and 
some of them still connected with the College, and some known 
and honored wherever science is taught — tempt the pen to eager 
praise of lives and learning that have given distinction to Lafa- 
yette in her past an4 present. But their presence commands a 
silence which respect and veneration find it hard to keep. This 
address could not be biographical, nor even strictly historical, 
and has been constructed so as to repeat nothing, if possible, 
which may be found in " The Record of the Men of Lafayette." 
You have already perceived, even if other qualifications were 
mine, how inadequate to semi-centennial demands is the brief 



1 6 DR. HECKMA N'S ADDBESS.. 

space into which this sketch must be compressed. Take the 
Board of Trustees, and passing now the venerated names already 
mentioned, what would an hour avail for the consideration of a 
roll which contains the names of Gen. Robert Patterson, Hon. 
Hopewell Hepburn, Enoch Green, Rev. Drs. Robert Steel and 
John Dorrance, Hon. Charles Sitgreaves, Joseph McElroy, 
D. D., and Jonathan Edwards, D. D., LL. D., Gov. James 
Pollock and Ario Pardee ? 

The reminiscences that crowd upon the mind in a retrospect 
of fifty years are so many, and naturally some so personal, that 
it is difficult to choose among them, and it is not easy to avert the 
suspicion of egotism in a literary duty like this. And the neces- 
sarily brief lines make it a hard task to memorize any without 
doing injustice to some worthy of semi-centennial mention whom 
you are yet compelled to pass in silence. So little time is left 
for the Alumni of Lafayette that the temptation, under a sense 
of justice to them, is to omit even the brief testimony to their 
worth which is alone possible now. Among my Sabbath-school 
teachers I recall readily, and with affection, these Alumni of 
Lafayette: Rev. Jas. W. Wood, D. D., of Pennsylvania, and 
Hon. A. G. Richey, of New Jersey, both surviving in vigor- 
ous usefulness; Jas. Snodgrass, Esq., who died at Great Bend, 
Indiana, in 1854, and W. C. Logan, Esq., of Maryland, who 
died while I was penning this anniversary address. Thus you 
perceive how the legal profession of our Alumni were during 
student life represented in Christian work. Let us remember 
that Lafayette College was inspired not only by the desire and 
duty to raise up a Christian ministry, but also, and better still, 
by the cherished obligation to provide that broader education 
and nobler training demanded by the sons of Christian sires 
and the electors of Christian States. Now let us here emphasize 
and make historic a fact hitherto, if not overlooked, yet not 
recognized in its importance. The graduates of Lafayette who 
have entered the ministry have with notable fidelity and honor- 
able distinction fulfilled the expectations of the devout and patri- 
otic founders and patrons of the College, and they deserve and 
receive due honor for their faithfulness, as a class, to the relig- 
ious legends and traditions of their Alma Mater. But I submit 
for your thought that this happy result is not so remarkable, if 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 17 

as congratulatory, as another fact, viz. : That those who have 
graduated into other professions and the varied vocations of the 
laity have been as generally and signally true as the ministry 
to the special genesis and type, purpose and development, of the 
College. These facts, and the principles they involve and their 
place in the history of American education, are worthy of more 
frequent mention and more elaborate consideration than this 
sketch allows. And none but an intelligent Christian patriot 
can appreciate the satisfaction which such results convey. They 
are at once the reward and the stimulus of self-denying labor 
and liberality in this fundamental duty of the Church of God. 

But whither are active memory, filial veneration, eager grati- 
tude and willing pen tending? Just here, more, perhaps, than 
before, do the requisitions and possibilities of a semi-centennial 
address fascinate and appall me. Who can do justice in an hour 
to the half-century's history of Lafayette College? 

Anniversaries are usually occasions of congratulation and 
hope, if not of satisfaction. Many must be content with what 
has been heroic, faithful and noble in the past, with only sub- 
mission for a suffering present and hopefulness for the future. 
We in this anniversary are happier. We lift up our hearts to 
God, overflowing with grateful congratulation, with devout 
thanksgivings and joyful anticipations, as to-day Ave contem- 
plate the past, the present and the future of our Alma Mater. 
We come back from the past on this semi-centennial to see the 
heroic faith and fidelity of the origin and early history of Lafa- 
yette College crowned with material and academic glory, for 
which our faith long prayed almost against hope. Our words 
are feeble to express our gratitude to God for the Divine bene- 
dictions which have crowned the wise, watchful, indefatigable 
administration of President Cattell, and the munificent benefac- 
tions of Ario Pardee, William Adamson, John Welles Hollen- 
back, John I. Blair and others. We have no tears to shed 
over some landmarks, immortal in our cherished recollec- 
tions, but which have been swept from sight by the march 
of splendid and substantial improvements. We are only too 
glad in these filial visits to see our dear Alma Mater with 
youth and beauty renewed, with a growing vigor that makes 
her stronger than her sons, and in a more queenly dress 
2 



18 D-5. HECKMAN'S ADDRESS. 

than in those days of trial and poverty when we drank 
learning, honor and piety from her bosom. We have never 
had any other than feelings of admiration and gratitude 
for the devotion, statesmanship and triumphs — financial, aca- 
demic and religious — which must ever make the administration 
of President Cattell distinguished in the history of Lafayette 
College and of American education. But believe one who stood 
as a silent, observant boy at the laying of these foundations in 
those far-off days — though now seemingly so near — that what 
thrills us most and makes this semi-centennial a prolonged Te 
Deum is this : that the administration upon which God has 
bestowed these successes and prosperities — through light and 
darkness, in ebb and flow, in joyful thanksgiving and glorious 
achievement — has ever been faithful to the Divine origin and 
aim of this Christian College. As we gaze upon these beautiful 
grounds, so harmonizing with the splendid setting of nature ; as 
we look out upon these many stately buildings and study the 
academic equipment of our Alma Mater, we exclaim : " All 
THESE, AND Christ WITH All !" We blcss God, and honor 
our noble President. AVe praise God, nor forget to thank those 
wise benefactors who here liave laid their offerings at the feet of 
Jesus. We turn to the Faculty and Trustees in gratitude for 
the honor and glory with which they have aided to environ this 
literary homestead of ours. We look out upon our ancestral 
Easton, and crave her citizens to ever honor and cherish the 
institution which, of all their many noble enterprises, has most 
honored them. We turn to the undergraduates, and bid them 
to consecrate themselves to the future of their Alma Mater, that 
her centennial, which some of them will live to see, shall more 
than fulfill the glorious hopes and promises of this auspicious 
hour. And we, the Alumni of Lafayette College, pledge all we 
can and ought to do to maintain and augment the literary and 
religious fame and usefulness of the Mother of us all. While all 
of us, meeting and parting until we shall no longer meet on 
earth, looking out from these fading scenes of time, shall hope 
to meet and renew the friendships and associations of the present 
amid the gladder scenes of eternity, through the grace of Him 
" who brouffht life and immortalitv to liffht." 



OF THE 

Exercises- of Commencement Week, 

1882. 



Taken from the Lafayette College Journal, July, 1882. 



Sunday, June 25th — baccalaureate day. 

Could George Juukiu have stood on the brow of College Hill upon 
the morning of this day which ushered in the Commencement week 
of the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the College, his heart 
would have been filled not merely with common wonder and admi- 
ration at the vast changes which he here witnessed, but with sincere 
thankfulness to the Author of it all for the manner in which He had 
fulfilled, and more than fulfilled, his most ardent wishes. As he 
looked upon the manifold evidences of the material prosperity of the 
College, u])ou its magnificent buildings, the gifts of wise and liberal 
benefactors, or upon its campus adorned with all the beauty of nature 
assisted by art, his thoughts would doubtless have turned to the 
modest 'foundations which he and his fellow-workers laid in faith and 
love so many years ago, and his heart Avould have gone out anew in 
profound thanksgiving toward Him whose mercies have been so 
signally manifested in the past history of the College. 

On this beautiful morning as the deep-toned chapel bell, the use- 
ful gift Qf the class of 79, sounded forth its summons, throngs began 
to wend their way toward the sacred place to hear the last words of 
counsel and wisdoju from the lips of the President. In spite of the 
great heat, the chapel was crowded with an appreciative and sympa- 
thetic audience, 

• At half-past ten the graduating class marched into the chapel, 
followed by President Cattell in his official robes, escorted by the 
president of the class. The choir then sang the anthem, " Hark, 
the Song of Jubilee," by W. B. Bradbury. After reading of Scrip- 
ture and prayer by Dr. Traill Green, the congregation sang the 
familiar hymn, " All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name," and then 

19 



20 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

President Cattell commenced the Baccalaureate sermon. His text 
was taken from the sixth verse of the ninth chapter of Isaiah, "His 
name shall be called Wonderful:" 

After a brief introduction discussing the significance attached to tlie various 
names applied to the Messiali in the prophetical writings, he discussed tlie 
person and character of Christ as given in the coteinporaneous records of His 
life, whicli are now accepted as equally authentic with axiy historic documents 
that we possess Taking tlie same point of view from which we regard the 
lives of all other men — even those whose careers have been most remarkable — 
the historic Christ was shown to be pre-eminently "The Wonder" among 
men. His personal force, as seen in all the subsequent history of the world, 
lias been a subject of no less interest. Cliristianity was not merely a system 
of doctrines. The Doctor argued at some length in showing that Chris- 
tianity, in its marvelous progress and triumph, was the development of the 
personal power of tlie historic Christ. From the examination of this unique 
and wonderful power of the Man of Nazareth over the , lives of his brother 
men, His divinity could be as clearly established as by the miracles He 
wrought. If we do not admit this divinity, which He himself claimed, 
we are in the presence of an historical enigma tliat defies solution.; but 
to acknowledge this Wonder among men as Immanuel — God witli us — is 
to accept a divine mystery which, though above our reason, is not against it. 
No other explanation of the person and character of Christ can satisfy the 
mind and heart of men. He discussed the Arian and Socinian views of Christ, 
contending that they had never been derived from a devout study of the sacred 
Word, and though admitting Christ to be in one sense a wonder, these views 
had never fully met the religious consciousness of God's people. In conclu- 
sion, he held up Christ to his audience as the Divine Wonder among men, the 
object of their love and praise and worship, whose life was to be imitated and 
whose commands were to be obeyed. 

Young Gentlemen of the Graduating Class : 

This semi-centennial year of the College invites us to a retrospect of its 
history and an examination of the principles upon which it was founded and 
upon which it is now conducted. Others during this Commencement week 
will discuss these subjects in their relations to science and literature ; they 
will point you to the noble array of cultured men the College has.seut forth 
to tlie learned professions and into the business walks of life as the best illus- 
tration of what it has had in view, and also as demonstrating the success with 
which its lofty aim has been accomplished. And to these men Lafayette 
College, proud and grateful for their success and rich in possessing their love 
and loyalty, may point as the best promise it can give of continued success in 
the great and noble work befoi'e it. 

But from this sacred desk to-day I may only refer to those religious princir 
I)les upon wliich the College has been established. Its founders designed that 
it siiould be not only an institution of sound learning, but also a school of 
Christ. Its first president, many j'ears before he entered upon his duties here, 
had devoted his life with rare enthusiasm to the special object of Cliristian 
education, and the first exercises upon the 9th of May, fifty years ago, in the 
iiumble house across the Lehigh, were opened by him in sujjplicating for the 
College the presence and benediction of the great Teacher. His successors in 
oflice have all been ministers of Christ ; and its friends and patrons, rejoicing 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 21 

at every enlargement of its appliances for secular instruction, still regard its 
work in advancing the icingdoni of our Lord Jesus as tlie first and foremost of 
tlie lofty aims it has in view. 

And therefore in these last words of mine to you I have spoken of Christ, 
It is tiie great theme upon wiiich I have ever loved to dwell, and now, as you 
bid farewell to these halls, my heart prompts me to greater earnestness and 
urgency in this, my last message to you from this sacred desk. Many of you 
indeed liave cliosen Him to be your master and friend ; your fellow-students 
can testify that the power of His grace has wrought witli divine efficacy in the 
daily lives you have led among them. My prayer for you is tliat you may all 
choose this better part Avhicli shall never be taken from you, and that you 
may grow more and more in His knowledge and grace until yon reach the 
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So sliall you secure in this 
life the peace of God that passetli all understanding, and so shall you attain 
unto everlasting joy and felicity in tlie ages to come. 

Last week I attended the funeral services of one of the trustees of this Col- 
lege, the venerable David Thomas, of Catasauqua, a man so lionored and 
beloved by the people among whom his life had been passed that all places 
of business were closed and the whole community in their reverent love fol- 
lowed him to the grave. And men spoke of his rare endowments as a man of 
business, so modest and retiring yet so sagacious and energetic and courageous 
and enterprising; but uppermost in all men's tlioughts was his humble Cliris- 
tian life tliat had been to them like a benediction from heaven. And let me 
remind you also of that great scholar who passed away from our midst since 
the last Commencement — my revered and beloved colleague, Dr. Coleman. 
Another will speak to us fully, in the memorial service tliis evening, of liis 
long and lionored life ; I point you only to his faithful testimony for Christ, 
and remind yon how the grace of the Master whom lie loved and served made 
him strong and helpful to others and crowned his life with peace and joy. 

The skeptic in human happiness has asked "Is life worth living?" Let 
this question be argued by those who Jiave sought in this life only the praise 
of men and the things that perish in the using ; it is answered for us in the 
lives of these two followers of Christ. 

Go forth tlien, beloved youth, sustained and strengthened by Christ's grace, 
to meet in the busy world the duties that await you with their joys and sor- 
rows. Your Alma Mater will lovingly follow you through all your career, 
proud if yon shall win distinction among your fellow-men, but grateful above 
all if you shall possess the grace of Christ and shall show to the world its 
power" to mould your lives like His and to make you triumph over sin and 
death. 

But I must come to the final word ; and now, in the name of my colleagues 
I bid you affectionately farewell. 

Never has it been our pleasure to listen to a more impressive dis- 
course than this. It was more than scholarly or eloquent ; it was a 
message from the heart delivered personally to each of his hearers. 
At the address to the graduates the members of the class arose and 
remained standing during the rest of the service. After the sermon 
they sang most impressively the hymn, " My faith looks up to 
■ Thee." Dr. Cattell then made a prayer, and after the doxology and 
benediction the large audience dispersed. 

THE BRAINERD EVANGELICAL SOCIETY. 

The importance of this society to the cause of Christianity in 
Lafayette College cannot be overestimated. Quietly and effectually 



22 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

it performs its appointed work, exerting a constant influence for 
good over the entire College community, and exemplifying in the 
outside world the principles of Jesus. Year by year it adds to its 
record of good service done in the Master's cause, and year by year 
it sends out devoted men to carry out, on a larger scale, the principles 
which they have here learned. 

This year more than usual interest attended its anniversary, as 
being marked by the dedication of its new and beautiful session- 
room in South College, the room formerly occupied by the Washiug- 
ton Literary Society. The Brainerd Society has long felt the need 
of a more suitable place in which to hold its meetings, and early in 
the year began the task of raising funds for the purpose, appointing 
a furnishing committee to oversee the disbursement of them. How 
thoroughly they have accomplished their work is well attested by 
the beautiful and harmonious appearance of the room, with its 
handsome carpet of excellent material, its comfortable walnut chairs; 
arranged in semi-circular roAvs, its dark-brown papering, and its 
rich curtains and hangings, all uniting to form a pleasing and sym- 
metrical whole. _ 

At four o'clock on Sabbath afternoon a large audience gathered 
to witness the dedicatory exercises. C. A. Walker, President of the 
society, called the meeting to order, and after the College choir had 
rendered a "Thanksgiving Anthem," President Cattell invoked the 
divine blessing. Mr. Walker made a few remarks, dwelling espe- 
cially upon the manner of conducting the work among the students. 
The singing of the hymn, " Come ye that love the Lord," was fol- 
lowed by the report of the furnishing committee, through Stanley 
Williamson, chairman. This report comprised a concise statement 
of the work and of the way in which it had been accomplished. 

After singing the hymn, " Saviour, like a shepherd lead us," Rev. 
John Fox, '72, of Baltimore, made the annual address, taking for 
his theme the words of Martin Luther : " Three things are necessary 
for a theologian — prayer, meditation and temptation." He traced 
all things in science and art to theology, and said that it had ever 
been the burning question of the day. The power of prayer was 
unfolded, showing it to be the bulwark of righteousness and the 
mainstay against temptation. The speaker said that the prayer- 
meeting was in college the guard of a young man's morals. But 
we cannot do justice in a brief report to this most excellent address. 
It will long be remembered by the members of the society who had 
the pleasure of hearing it. 

Rev. W. H. James, of Springdale, Ohio, being the oldest gradu- 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 23 

ate of the society present, offered the dedicatory prayer. Brief, but 
happy and appropriate, remarks were thea made by Rev. Dr. Heck- 
man and Revs. Messrs. Sproull, Kellogg, Hart and Murphy, 
the latter gentleman having served for years as a missionary in 
Africa. After a hymn had been sung, Dr. Ballard dismissed the 
gathering with the benediction. 

MEMORIAL OF KEY. LYMAN COLEMAN, D. D. 

Sunday evening, the time usually allotted to the annual sermon 
before the Christian Brotherhood, was occupied by the Rev. Alfred 
H. Kellogg, of Deti'oit, Avho had been invited by the Faculty to 
present a memorial sermon upon the life and character of our vener- 
able and beloved Dr. Coleman, who died in March last, having 
served Lafayette devotedly for the past twenty years. No more 
fitting person than Mr. Kellogg could have been chosen to perform 
this last office of respect. From 1862 to 1865 he was pastor of the 
Brainerd Church, in Easton. During this period he lived with Dr. 
Coleman, contributing largely to the comfort and happiness of his 
friend. The sermon was delivered in the First Presbyterian Church. 
President Cattell, Rev. F. E. Miller and Rev. A. R. Stevenson also 
occupied the pulpit and took part in the exercises. Mr. Kellogg 
took his text from Zachariah i, 5, "Your fathers, where are they? 
and the prophets, do they live forever?" His sermon was a beauti- 
ful review of the life of the departed Professor. (Dr. Kellogg's 
sermon has been printed by order of the Trustees of the College, 
and upon application, a copy will be sent to any alumnus of the 
College. The synopsis which was given in the Journal is, therefore, 
omitted.) 

Monday, June 26th — the senior class day exercises 

Were given by a united class, and constituted, as of old, one of the 
most attractive features of Commencement week. A stage had been 
erected under the maples in front of South College, and long before 
two o'clock arrived, the seats which surrounded it were completely 
filled by a large and attractive audience. 

Shortly after two o'clock the exercises were opened with an excel- 
lent selection by the Germania Orchestra of Reading, which fur- 
nished the music throughout Commencement. The divine blessing 
was invoked by President Cattell, after which Mr. E. D. McCulloch, 
of Peoria, Illinois, Master of Ceremonies, made a few graceful and 
appropriate remarks. The following programme was then carried 
out: 



24 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

Salutatory J. E. Strawbridge, York County, Pa. 

History M. B. Lambert, Bucks Co., Pa. 

Music. 

Presentation O. D. Skinner, Fostoria, Ohio. 

Poem J. P. Welsh, Orangeville, Pa. 

Music. 

Class Oration A. C. LaBarre, Slateford, Pa. 

Mantle Oration A. D. Light, Lebanon, Pa. 

Music. 

Prophecy C. S. Melvin, Oakland, Cal. 

Valedictory E. S. Herbert, St. Clair, Pa. 

Music. 

The salutatorian, J. R. Strawbridge, welcomed those who had 
gathered together to do honor to Eighty-two's Class Day. At this 
point of the exercises, just as the historian had taken his place,, the 
traditionary class-day thunder-storm, copious in showers, arose, com- 
pelling the large audience to seek shelter in the neighboring chapel, 
which was at once filled to overflowing, crowds occupying the aisles, 
and many more standing at the doors and windows, unable to gain 
admittance, and eaves-droppers in the extreme sense of the term. 
As soon as this change had been made the master of ceremonies 
introduced Mr. M. B. Lambert, the historian. This is a most diffi- 
cult office to fill satisfactorily, but Mr. Lambert performed its duties 
admirably, relieving the inevitable monotony with tact and ability. 
The presentation by Mr. O. D. Skinner, was one of the best per- 
formances of the day. Eighteen members of the class were in turn 
called to the stage to receive a variety of gifts, emblematic of their 
various personal peculiarities. The points were well chosen, and 
the remarks were decidedly witty, eliciting frequent applause. The 
poem by Mr. J. P. Welsh was a production of merit, manifesting 
much care and no little poetic talent. Mr. A. C. LaBarre, the class 
orator, a finished speaker, next delighted the audience with his ora- 
tion. Mr. A. D. Light, in a few well-chosen words, handed down 
the mantle of senioric dignity to the class of Eighty-three, who, 
through their representative, Mr. F. H. Guffey, responded in fitting 
terms. The veil of futurity was then raised by the seer, Mr. C. S. 
Melvin, who with prophetic vision pictured the occupations of the 
members of the class in the year A. D. 1900. Mr. E. S. Herbert 
then gave a fitting close to the delightful exercises by graceful words 
of farewell. 

PROMENADE CONCERT. 

The annual promenade concert has passed out of its experimental 
state and has become an established feature of Commencement week. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 25 

And a most deliglitful feature it is, too, when the weather is favor- 
able. The Senior Class was this year peculiarly fortunate in this 
respect. The showers of the afternoon had freshened and purified 
the air without rendering it damp or unpleasant. The maple grove 
of the South campus was again brought into use. Illuminated, as 
it was, by hundreds of Chinese lanterns, and filled with a gay and 
joyous throng of "fair women and brave men," it would be difficult 
to imagine a more perfect scene. Crowds roamed at pleasure over 
the beautiful grounds, listening to the notes of the magnificent over- 
ture from William Tell, or to the lighter though scarcely less beauti- 
ful strains of Boccaccio or the Mascotte. Many preferred to ascend 
to the second floor of the library, and from its convenient windows 
to watch the animated scene below, and drink in, at a greater dis- 
tance, the strains of delicious harmony. It is estimated that at least 
two thousand people were present, a larger crowd, perhaps, than had 
ever before collected on the campus for a similar purpose. The 
music, under the leadership of Mr. P. Bissinger, of Keadihg, was 
excellent. The selections, which were good and were rendered with 
skill, were as follows : 

PART I. 

Wedding March — from Midsummer Night's Dream Mendelssohn 

Overture — Poet and Peasant Suppe 

Waltz— Woman's Love Fahrbach 

Clarinet Solo — Ngo Contidi Parigi Donizetti 

Selections from opera — The Mascotte Audrian 

Dedication Mabch— '32 Golden Wedding '82 H. 3L Seem 

(Dedicated to Lafayette College, by Dr. H. M. Seem, Class '79.) 

PART IT. 

Overture— William Tell Bossini 

Cornet Solo— Eleonora Polka Wrigand 

Selections from opera — Boccaccio Suppe 

Waltz— Les Sirenes Waldtev/el 

Clarinet Solo— Polonaise Brillante Ringlebere 

Potpourri— Florveret for everybody Each 

It was a cause of regret to all when the programme drew toward 
its close. But everything, however enjoyable, must have an end, 
and at about eleven o'clock the music ceased and the crowds 
returned to the town below, leaving College Hill silent and dark. 

FRATERNITY REUNIONS. 

After the promenade concert, the various fraternities held their 
annual reunions, all of them being most enjoyable affairs. We have 
space but for brief mention of each. 



26 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

The Delta Kappa Epsilon held its banquet and reunion in its 
rooms, which have recently been elegantly refurnished. Rev. J. I. 
Good, of Philadelphia, '72, presided. 

The Zeta Psi's had an excellent supper and a most delightful time 
at their rooms. E. D. McCulloch, '82, presided. 

The Phi Charge of Theta Delta Chi held a large and enjoyable 
reunion and banquet in their rooms. C. B. Adamson, '77, presided. 

The Sigma Chi's held their fifteenth annual banquet in the Grays' 
Armory, where they had a most enjoyable time. E. D. Wetmore, 
'82, presided. 

The Theta Chapter of Phi Kappa Psi held its thirteenth annual 
reunion in its rooms, after which it adjourned to the Franklin House 
to partake of the excellent collation prepared by the proprietor?. 
Samuel Sprecher, '74, C. E., of the Pennsylvania Railroad, presided. 

The annual banquet of Phi Delta Theta was held this year at 
their rooms. Prof. A. P. Berlin, '76, of the State Geological 
Survey, presided. 

The Rho Chapter of the Chi Phi fraternity held its reunion and 
banquet in Abie's Hall. Dr. J. B. Heller, '74, presided. 

The Delta Tau Delta's met in their rooms where they passed a 
most enjoyable evening. L. G. Shultz, '82, presided. 



Tuesday, June 27th — alumni day. 

At nine o'clock an audience composed of students, alumni and 
others, assembled in the chapel to listen to the Semi-Centen- 
NiAL Commencement Address. The usual chapel services were 
conducted by Rev. W. Henry Green, D. D., LL. D., '40, the emi- 
nent professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. 

President Cattell, before introducing the orator, said he noticed 
that a spirit of inquiry had been aroused by the blowing of 
the mammoth class horn of '71, in addition to the ringing of the 
bell which was the ordinary summons to prayers. The blowing of 
a horn was not uncommon in this vicinity ; but, in such a connec- 
tion, it would doubtless need a word of explanation to the younger 
alumni. The older ones would remember that before the College 
came into possession of its first bell the horn daily aroused the stu- 
dents from slumber to attend chapel at five A. M., an exercise fol- 
lowed by two hours of manual labor before breakfast. Aaron 0. 
Hoff", a venerable man of seventy-four, who this morning had blown 
the horn from the chapel steps, fifty years ago performed that ofiice 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 27 

ia the old Lafayette, he being at the same time a member of the 
first Freshman Class. 

Rev. Dr. George C. Heckmau, '45, late President of Hauover 
College, Indiana, and now pastor of the Avondale Church iu Cin- 
cinnati, was then introduced as the orator of the day. (The address 
is printed in full iu the preceding pages, and the synopsis which 
appeared in the Journal is, therefore, omitted.) 

WASHINGTON AND FRANKLIN REUNIONS. 

Immediately after the Commencement address the two literary 
societies held their annual reunions in their new quarters in Pardee 
Hall. Both were fraught with interest, and were unusually well 
attended by alumni and friends. 

FRANKLIN. 

Never before was a greater number of alumni assembled iu the 
rooms of the Franklin Society upon an occasion of this kind. Mr. 
O. E. Williams, president of the society, called the meeting to order 
and requested Rev. Joseph Beggs, '51, to lead the society iu prayer. 
Gen. E. L. Campbell, '55, of Trenton, was then introduced as the 
reunion orator. Choosing as his subject, " Higher Education as 
the Productive Cause of a Higher Standard of Citizenship," he elo- 
quently and ably pleaded for a greater dissemination of knowledge 
as a means of elevating the moral tone of the community. Repu- 
diating the idea that knowledge of any kind is dangerous, he showed 
how every advancement in philosophy and every discovery in science 
must infallibly lead lo the divine Author of all science. 

Mr. A. C. LaBarre, '82, then delivered a brief valedictory, and 
Mr. E. S. Horner, '84, responded in happy terms. 

The meeting was then thrown into the hands of the graduates. 
Mr. G. W. Kidd, '36, Secretary of the Cotton Exchange and Board 
of Trade of Houston, Texas, and the first person on whom the 
diploma of the College had been conferred, was chosen by a rising 
vote to preside. On taking his seat, he made a few happy remarks, 
in which he stated that he was a member of the committee that 
drew up the first constitution of the society. He officiated throughout 
with much grace and dignity. Telling speeches were made by Rev. 
Joseph Beggs, '51 ; Rev. G. C. Heckman, D.D., '45; Judge Kirk- 
patrick, '63 ; Rev. W. W. McKinney, '57 ; James H. Neighbor, 
Esq., of Dover, N. J., '48, and F. W. Edgar, Esq., '71. 



28 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

At 12.30 the meeting adjourned. ■ Marked attention was drawn 
to " Father Beggs," as he recounted the history of the society, when 
— in 1850 — he was for some months its sole member. He described 
his regular weekly ringing of the bell, roll-call and announcement 
of exercises, as he " held the fort " until reinforcements were obtained 
from the incoming class. 

WASHINGTON. 

Washington Hall was the scene of a large gathering, its beautiful 
new library-room being an object of universal admiration. 

Mr. K. J. Phipps, president of the society, called the meeting to 
order and requested Rev. Charles Wood, of Brooklyn, '46, to invoke 
the divine blessing. 

The valedictory address was then made in appropriate terms by 
F. V. Frisbie, '82, who was followed by Horace Heydt, '84, who 
responded on behalf of the undergraduates. Hon. Robert Snod- 
grass, '57, then delivered the alumni oration on " The Difficulties 
of Life." The oration was an admirable one, rich in fine thoughts, 
eloquently and forcibly expressed. After this the graduating class 
received their diplomas from Aula Washingtonia. 

At the conclusion of the regular exercises, the Upper House, 
W. L. S., held its session, Rev. Dr. W. Henry Green, '40, presiding. 
After a few excellent remarks by the President, the following officers 
were elected by acclamation for the ensuing year : 

Kev. Professor William Henry Green, D. D., LL. D. ; Vice-President, Hon. 
Eobert Snodgrass ; Secretary and Treasurer, Professor D. B. King ; Standing 
Committee, Eev. Professor T. C. Porter, D. D., LL. D., H. D. Lachenour, 
M. D., James K. Dawes, Esq., W. Gibson Field, Esq., D. W. Nevin, Esq., 
Professor D. B. King and Kussell C. Stewart, Esq. 

Prof. King made a report as Treasurer, and Dr. Porter, on behalf 
of the Executive Committee. A vote of thanks was tendered Mr. 
J, S. Rodenbough for his valuable services in decorating and fur- 
nishing the rooms. 

Capital addresses, full of wit and wisdom, were then made by Hon. 
A. G. Richey, '40 ; Mr. John W. Hollenback (one of the trustees 
of the College) ; Rev. Thomas Thomas, '42, and Rev. David Tully, 
of Oswego, '47 ; after which the society adjourned. 

GRADUATING THESES. 

The Theses of the following members of the Senior Class — Stu- 
dents in the Technical Courses — were submitted to the Trustees, 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 21) 

Faculty aud Board of Examiners of the Pardee Scientific Depart- 
ment, Tuesday afternoon, at 1^ o'clock, in the Civil Engineering 
Lecture-Room, in Pardee Hall : 

1. Review of the Lehigh Valley Kallroad Bridge over tlie Delaware River 

at Easton, Pa.— J. W- Niite, Easton. 

2. Design for a new Wrought-iron Bridge over the Lehigh River, at Third 

Street, Easton, Pa— C. H. Talmage, St. r.ouis, Mo. 

3. Review of Ventilating Apparatus of East Mine Shaft, St. Clair, Pa.— H. 

S. Gay, Shenandoah. 

4. Preparation of Pure Acids for Analytical Pnrposes— J. T. Baker, Scranton. 

CLASS REUNIONS. 

The quarter century meeting of "Young America," or the class 
of '57, was held in Newkirk Hall. An excellent dinner greeted 
these alumni. The meeting was convened by the Class Secretary, 
Rev. E. C. Cline. The class graduated twenty-seven men, four of 
whom have died. Ten were at the reunion and all the remaining ones 
were heard from but two. Personal reminiscences formed a chief 
part of the speeches delivered. Twelve of the class are ministers, 
six are lawyers, one a physician, one a teacher and the rest in various 
business. All of them are married and all have children. 

Decennials.— The class of '72 met at the United States Hotel, 
partaking of the regular dinner in a body. A pleasant chat was 
had, and letters were read from various members not present. Some 
of them are down in Texas, some in Mexico and others in almost 
every State in the Union. Not a death has occurred among those 
who graduated. An election of officers was held, and S. C. Smith, 
Esq., of Phillipsburg, was elected president ; C. A. Sandt, Esq., 
Easton, secretary. It was resolved to meet again in 1885. 

Masters.— The class of '79 were largely gathered in attendance, 
but as their proceedings were more social than formal, no report has 
been prepared for our columns. 

ATHLETIC SPORTS. 

The third annual commencement contest of the Lafayette College 
Athletic Association was held on the campus, Tuesday afternoon, at 
two o'clock. The cool weather brought crowds of people to College 
Hill to witness the contest, which all anticipated would be a most 
interesting one. Scores of carriages filled with gayly dressed ladies 



30 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

sporting the " maroon and white," occupied the drives surrounding 
the campus, while hundreds of pedestrians hekl the intervening 
space and fil],ed the windows of the neighboring Halls. 

Gold medals were offered in each event, and in addition to these 
the winner of the 100 yards dash, open to all, received a handsome 
silver cup, presented by J. W. Freeman; and the winner of the 
half-mile run, a similar cup, the gift of H. F. Seip, D. D. S., 76. 
We give the various events below, together with the names and 
records of the winners : 

The 100 Yards Dasli was won by J. J. Cliester, '82, in 11 seconds. 

Putting the Shot— W. C. Bond, '83 ; 33 feet and 1 incli. 

Eunning High Jump — P. C. March, '84 ; 5 feet 2 inches. 

Open 100 Yards Dash— B. W. Mcintosh, '84 ; 10^ seconds. 

Tug of War — First heat, '84 vs. '85, won by '84 by 10 inches ; second heat, 
'83 vs. '84, in two minutes ; '84 was pulled over by '83. 

Throwing the Hammer — J. B. Hench, '83 ; 72 feet 2 inches. 

Half-mile Run — J. L. Ludlow, '84 ; 2 minutes and 18 seconds. 

120 Yards Hurdle Eace— W. E. Schoch, '84 ; 22 seconds. 

Pole Vaulting— A. D. Shields, '84 ; 8 feet 6 inches. 

220 Yards Dash— J. J. Chester, '82 ; 25^ seconds. 

One Mile Walk— G. N. Chalfant, '84; 8 minutes 41 seconds. 

Kunning Broad Jump — P. C. Marcli, '84; 18 feet 2 inches. 

One Mile Run — -Elwood Hay; 5 minutes 41 seconds. 

440 Yards Dash— J. J. Chester, '82 ; 59 seconds. 

The field officers were : Referee — Gen. Frank Reeder ; Judges — M. H. 
Jones, Jr., T. A. H. Hay, '76, Dr. H. F. Seip, '76, E. D. McCulloch, '82 ; 
Timers— G. M. Reeder, Thomas Rinek, W. D. Holmes ; Starter — B. W. 
Mcintosh, '84 ; Judge of Walking — G. M. Reeder ; Clerk of Course — Hunter 
Eckert, '83 ; Assistant Clerks of the Course— F. L. Fox, '84, J. M. McCortney, 
'85 ; Marshals— A. R. Fillebrown, '83, chief, C. P. Bassett, '83, D. S. Seitz, 
'83, A. C. Overholt, '84, E. P. Remington, '84, J. W. Keeler, '84, T. W. Grant, 
'85, W. J. Trembath, '85, F. M. Decker, '85 ; Measurers— H. W. Cattell, '83, 
C. E. Schell, '85. 

SEMI-CENTENNIAL EEUNION OP THE ALUMNI. 

At four o'clock the alumni assembled in Pardee Hall auditorium for 
their Semi-Centennial Reunion. Rev. Thomas Thomas, of Stevens- 
ville, class of '43, invoked the Divine blessing. President Cattell, 
after welcoming the alumni in a brief speech, stated the object of 
the meeting to be the hearing of reports or remarks from a repre- 
sentative of each of the classes present. It was decided to select as ■ 
chairman a golden mean between the older and younger alumni, and 
A. C. Trippe, Esq., '57,- of Baltimore, who was here with his class to 
celebrate the quarter century anniversary of their graduation, was 
chosen to preside. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFA YETTE COLLEGE. 31 

Mr. Trippe, upon taking the chair, made a few spirited remarks 
and presided through the meeting with courtesy, ability and dignity. 
He was particularly earnest in his remarks upon the necessity of the 
alumni doing more and better for the College ; and frequently, in the 
course of the meeting in the afternoon, and the adjourned meeting 
in the evening, spoke felicitously and eloquently, referring jjarticu- 
larly to the effect of religion upon education and the necessity of the 
young men of this country being educated under Christian influ- 
ences, in order to counteract the bad element constantly coming into 
this land, settling here, and finally gaining equal grounds with the 
best of men, so far as civil rights are concerned. Such men possess- 
ing liberty, fail to know what it is, and it devolves upon the alumni 
of this and other colleges, and of all friends of education, to give 
eveiy possible support to the right education of the youth of our 
own land. 

In the class of '36, Mr. George W. Kidd, for a long time a mer- 
chant in St. Louis, and of late years Secretary of the Board of Trade 
of Houston, Texas, where he is also a ruling elder in the Presbyterian 
Church, was called to the stage as the veritable Adam of the assem- 
blage, the holder of the first diploma issued by the College. 

He said liis business was tliat of a toiler and not an orator, one accus- 
tomed to work and not to take any part in the rostrum. " Last night," said lie, 
" a'? I walked through the College Reading-room and looked about me, the 
lights in their brightness shone upon the portrait of Dr. Junkin, and a gleam 
so lighted up his countenance, that he seemed to smile upon the scene. His 
body rests in Laurel Hill, but it seemed to me that his spirit moved amono- 
us and approved the intent of our present gathering." 

The scenes before liim, and Eai?ton itself — unvisited by him in forty-six long 
years — awoke many a memory and recalled many a line of Horace most 
vividly ; but the presence of his juniors addicted to modern systems of Latin 
jn-onunciation, admonished him of the risk to be incurred in any attempt to 
give vent to his thoughts in the tongue of Rome. He then proceeded to speak 
of the fathers, the presbuteroi, their spirit of devotion and fidelity, and how 
they conquered tlie difficulties of tlieir early course, and closed with a glowing 
tribute of respect to the first President of the College. 

The class of '37 did not have a representative present. In announc- 
ing that no graduate member of the class of '38 was now living, the 
chairman said : 

It was customary for soldiers of old, in answering to the roll after a 
battle, when a companion's name was called who liad been killed in the fray 
for some one to step forward and say, " Died on the Field ;" and he would, in 
honor of these departed scliolars, say, in answer to the call : " Died on the 
Field." 



32 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

E. F. Stewart, Esq., of Easton, was called upon to respond for the 
class of '39, but not being present. President Cattell read a letter 
from another member of the class, Hon. William A. Porter, LL. D., 
of Philadelphia, which we give in full at the close of this day's pro- 
ceedings. The classes of '38, '41 and '44 were the only ones not 
represented in the attendance, although some of those present are 
not recorded in the following list of speakers, which we believe to be 
complete, although the report of their remarks is not as full as we 
could wish. 

The class of '40 was represented by Professor William Henry 
Green, of Princeton Theological Seminary. He said : 

He was proud to be a member of the class of '40. No member of the class 
has ever brought a stain upon his character. There were eleven graduates, the 
largest number thus far in the history of Lafayette. Seven survive and four 
are dead. He then spoke of the individual members of the class, giving 
briefly the history of each one. He further said : The class was a unit ; there 
never was any dissension in it. I entered during the middle of the Freshman 
year, and only one joined the class after that year. This class has given 
to Lafayette two Trustees, Col. Wm. Dorris and Hon. Augustus G. Eichey, 
and one Professor, Dr. Porter. 

Rev. Joseph Stevens, who was in early life Professor of Mathe- 
matics in Oakland College, Mississippi, and now for the last thirty 
years pastor at Jersey Shore, Pa., and the author of numerous pub- 
lished sermons and discussions, rose in answer to the call for the 
class of '42. 

He referred to the numerous educational and missionary labors performed 
by his classmate, Eev. Darwin Cook ; his companionship with Athanasius J. 
Collyrus, the native Greek whom Jonas King sent here to be educated, now 
teaching in Athens ; and his intimacy with his beloved and scholarly 
room-mate, Bannatyne, whose memorial is carved in marble in the walls of 
the F Street church in Washington, wliere his earthly labors ended. His 
class, now mostly gone to their rest, had had a full share in the honors of a 
useful life well spent. 

The Rev. Thomas Thomas, a man of venerable form and past 
seventy years of age, a native of Wales, replied for the class of '43. 
His son was an honor-man in '75, and a daughter is a missionary in 
Japan. 

He briefly referred to the creditable careers of his classmates, all of whom 
were professional men, the majority of whom attained public positions, and 
commented on tlie pleasant relations existing between the students and the 
Faculty during his college days, under the second President, Dr. John W. 
Yeomans. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 33 

Applause greeted Dr. G. C. Hecknian as he rose to the call for 
'45. He said : . 

There were at one time twenty-five members in my class, but only nine com- 
pleted their course and graduated, of whom the following are now living, viz. : 
Rev. J. E. Miller, of Stillwater, N. J. ; Dr. W. M. Stephens, of Illinois; Kev. 
George D. Stewart, D. D , of Burlington, Towa ; Eobert J. Wright, LL. D., the 
political economist of Philadelpliia, and the speaker. Making affectionate 
mention of tliose who were deceased, he said he would not take the present 
limited time to eulogize them, much as they deserved a tribute to their worth, 
but would rather extend the eulogism to the many — living and dead — who 
were exponents of what a consecrated spirit in the members of a college 
Faculty, as inspirers and leaders of youth could accomplish in so giving a bent 
to their purposes and I directing their ambition, that a noble career could 
scarcely fail to be the sequel. He was impressed with the fact that Aluui 
Mater's sons, if not all eminent in the paths of fame, were diligent and zealous 
workers in the brotherhood of alumni. A college whose iiistory was thus sus- 
tained could always be accounted rich in its I'ccords, even though it lacked the 
princely endowment in money that would enable it to extend its benefits to a 
larger number of students. 

The class of '46 was represented by John Sandt, M. D., who 
excused himself from protracted remarks, and gave brief statistics 
of his class that numbered nineteen on graduation. 

Rev. Robert B. Foresman, of New Jersey, said that '48 had 
graduated twenty-four, of whom thirteen studied theology, and the 
remainder other professions. 

He made special mention of those who had made teaching their profession, 
among whom were James T. Doran, of Berwyn, their valedictorian, and Wm. 
W. Cottingiiam, who has been thirty years in continuous service as superin- 
tendent of schools, a term of office unequaled by any other in the State. 

'51 was represented by Rev. Joseph Beggs. He said : 

His class was a small one, but the proverb mulfuin in parvo lias been mar- 
velously proved in tiie history of our class. I am not ashamed of our class, 
for we were all honor-men. There were only three who graduated, and then 
we had one we called " irregular." The class of '51 was here during the dark- 
est days in the history of Lafayette College. He spoke at length of the ti-ying 
times that threatened the College and how from that darkness she had come 
forth prosperous and better fitted to perform the great task of educating young 
men for their life-work. He then paid glowing tributes to some of the profes- 
sors of that time. He said a more godly man than President Nassau I never 
knew. A greater man than Dr. Coffin I never knew, nor do I expect to find. 
In the class were two ministers and one physician. I was surprised when I 
went into the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia to see some excellent 
mechanism on which our irregular man had received a prize, and I thought 
our irregular was comiu<j out at last. 



34 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

The chairman announced the class of '52, and called upon Eev. D. 
M. James, of Bath, to respond. , 

He spoke briefly of his classmates, of tlieir pursuits and character. He said, 
thirty-six years have passed since I came to Easton. When I think of all the 
men of this town, tlie teachers, preacliers and lawyers, and learn that all these 
with whom I was acquainted have passed away, I begin to tliink how time has 
flown. He gave a special exhoi-tation to young men to enter the ministry, 
claiming that it was the noblest of professions, and far from scanty in either 
the nature or the number of its rewards. This College grew out of a pastor's 
desire to have young men equipped for this great work. He stated that he 
had now preaclied for thirteen years on the ground where David Brainerd 
labored among tlie Indians. 

As the hour for the close of the afternoon session drew near, Prof. 
Selden J. Coffin, the Secretary of the Alumni Association, arose 
and requested leave to present to the assemblage a number of letters, 
which were ordered to be recorded as a part of the proceedings. 
These consisted of messages of cordial greeting from Hon. N. B. 
Smithers, '36, of Dover, Del., ex-member of Congress ; Hon. John 
W. Garrett, '37, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad ; 
Rev. Dr. Brakeley, '39 ; Rev. P. Camp, '41 ; Rev. Geo. D. Stewart, 
D. D., '45, of Iowa ; Hon. Henry Green, LL. D.,'46, of the Penn- 
sylvania Supreme Court; Rev. Charles J. Jones, D. D., '46; Rev. 
P. W. Melick, '49, North Carolina ; Rev. Dr. Davis, '52 ; Hon. H. 
G. Fisher, member of Congress, '55 ; Jesse H. Crane, '57, Topeka, 
Kansas; Wm. S. Everett, '57, Chicago; James A. Laughlin, '57, 
Cincinnati; Hon. S. P. Gait, '60, St. Louis; Rev, John B. Grier, 
'64, Danville, Pa. ; Rev. James Roberts, '65, Coatesville, Pa. ; F. 
Doremus, '70, Galveston, Texas ; Rev, Wra. H. Filson, '67, Jefferson 
County, Pa., and James Gayley, '76, of St. Louis. 

A profound sensation was produced when he added to the above 
a cordial and tender letter of greeting from a former member of the 
Faculty, Prof Robert Cunningham, eighty-two years of age, written 
from Stranrear Castle, Scotland, previously the home of the famous 
arctic explorer, Parry; also letters from two of the three surviving 
members of the original Faculty of Lafayette, viz., Charles F. 
McCay, LL. D., now of Baltimore, ex-President of Georgia State 
University, and the eminent Surgeon, Samuel D. Gross, LL. D., 
D. C, L. (Oxford). He presented, also, a letter from the poet, Mrs. 
Margaret J. Preston, of Lexington, Va., daughter of Dr. Geo. Jun- 
kiu, which was greeted with loud applause. He also laid before the 
meeting the following 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 35 

NECROLOGICAL ROLL. 

The officers and alumni of the College, whose deaths are known 
to have occurred during the past twelve months, number twenty- 
three. Among them are not a few whose names will be read with 
tears, because of a career altogether too brief to fulfill the hopes 
and ardent expectations of friends who admired them for their 
virtues and promise of extended usefulness. The list is headed by 
three honored men, who were remarkable for their clearness of 
intellect, power of will and vigor of execution, displayed for years 
after they had passed fourscore : 

Trustees. — Major-General Kobert Patterson, the last survivor of the original 
board of trustees, nominated in the charter granted to the College in 1826, and 
for some years prior to his death the president of the board, died in Pliiladel' 
pliia, August 7th, 1881, aged 89 years. 

David Thomas, Esq., died June 20th, 1882, aged 87 years. 

The following tribute was paid to his memory by President Cattell 
at chapel prayers, on Friday, June 23d : 

It is fitting that I should officially and from this sacred desk refer to the 
death of Mr. David Thomas, one of the trustees of the College, who will be 
buried to-day from his late residence in Catasauqua. 

The daily papers have given you the particulars of his long, useful and 
honored life. I need not dwell upon them, nor will I speak of my own personal 
loss in the death of this friend, revered and beloved by me for many years> 

But I desire to point you to his manly Christian life as one that every 
young man sliould study, that he may make his own the principles that 
governed Mr. Thomas, and which moulded his character to such high excel- 
lence and made his career one of such almost unexampled success. Born in 
humble circumstances he won riches and distinction. But it is not this that 
is most worthy of your notice, but the fact that he was honored and beloved 
wherever he was known, and most of all where he was best known. 

He lived to be nearly ninety years old, and it seems to me never was an old 
age more beautiful. Until within the last few years he was active in the man- 
agement of the many and important business enterprises in which he was for 
so long a time engaged, and when finally he gave up many of these- the remain- 
der of his life was passed amid the devoted attentions of his children and their' 
children, and the love and lionor of the entire community, where he was always 
spoken of as " Father Thomas."' I could not ask of God anything better for 
you, my young friends, than that you should live sucli a life as he lived and 
that your end should be like his. 

In his death the College has sustained another great loss. He was one of its 
most active and devoted friends, one of its wisest counselors and one of its 
most liberal benefactors. His beautiful memory, precious to his family, hon- 
ored by the Church and by the world, will ever be cherished in the hearts of 
all the alumni and friends of Lafayette. 



36 BEPOBT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

Faculty. — Eev. Lyman Coleman, D. D., Professor of Latin and Biblical 
Geography, and founder of Biblical prizes, died March 16th, aged eighty-five. 
(See under the head of Sunday's proceedings— memorial sermon, preached by 
his friend, Eev. A. H. Kellogg.) 

Alumni. — Class of '37 — William C Logan, died in Philadelphia, May 24th, 
aged sixty-eight. He was admitted to the bar of Northampton County in 
1839, and spent most of his life in Bedford. For the last ten years an active 
citizen of Federalsburg, Md. 

Class of '40 — Wm. E. Barber, a leading member of the Chester County Bar, 
died April 13th, at West Chester. He filled numerous offices in the Church 
and community, and was the author of the essay on " Political Organization " 
that obtained the first prize of $500 offered by the Union League of Philadel- 
phia, in 1868. 

Class of '41 — Hon. John Cresswell, lawyer, died at Hollidaysburg, January 
29th, aged sixty-three. While he was Speaker of the Pennsylvania Senate, in 
1859, he was at one time supposed to have succeeded to the governorship, 
because of the reported fatal termination of the severe illness of Governor 
Packer, which Avas generally telegraphed through the State. For some years 
he was in Washington City, law partner of Mr. Puleston, afterward a member 
of the British Parliament. 

Class of '44 — Abraham B. Waller, a teacher and farmer, died in Easton, 
March 13th, aged fifty-two years. 

Class of '46 — Eev. Austin Craig, D. D., a leading divine of the Christian 
denomination, a preacher of great power, and successively president of Antiocli 
College, lecturer in the Meadville Theological School, and for the last thirteen 
years of his life president of the Biblical Institute, Stanfordville, IST. Y., where 
he died suddenly, August 27tli, aged fifty-seven. — Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel 
Michler, U. S. A., during the war chief engineer of the army of the Potomac, 
and for thirty-three years in continuous military service, chiefly engineering ; 
died at Saratoga, July 18tli, aged fifty-four. 

Class of '57 — George Gilbert Gibons, lawyer, died in Chicago, 111., December 
10th, aged forty-seven. 

Class of '62 — Edwin Shalter, attorney at law and city solicitor of Eeading, 
Pa., died at Tuckerton, March 8th, aged forty-two. 

Class of '63— Stephen V. B. Kachline, lawyer and candidate for Congress in 
1874, died on Mount Jeflferson, Easton, January 24th, aged forty-five. 

Class of '65 — Clarence D. Biddle, in coal and iron business, died at Dan- 
ville, August 1st, aged thirty- six. 

Class of '66 — Eobert M. Bertolet, M. D., Surgeon United States Army, died 
at Santa Fe, N. M., May 10th, aged thirty-five. 

Class of '68— Abram P. Garber, M. D., died August 25th, at Eenova, Pa., 
aged forty-three ; discoverer of the plant Garberia fruticosa, and a large con- 
tributor of botanical specimens to Lafayette and to the Philadelphia Academy 
of Natural Sciences. 

Class of '69— William F. Patton, a prominent lawyer in Franklin County, 
died at Greencastle, May 12th, aged thirty -five. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 37 

Class of 70 — 8eth P. Dalton. merchant of Phillipsburg, N. J., died in Eas- 
ton, February 16th, aged twenty-eight. 

Class of 72 — Benjamin Chambers, lawyer and inventor, died at Chambers- 
burg, October 30th, aged twenty-four. 

Class of 78 — William P. Taylor met with a painful death by a boiler explo- 
sion, while in the discharge of his duty as Collector of Internal Revenue, Dan- 
ville, Pa., March, 1882. 

Class of '79 — William J. Jones, lawyer, died in Easton, September 29th, aged 
twenty-five years. Edward P. Micke, died in Easton, December 5tli, aged 
twenty-three years. 

Class of '82 — C. E. Ludingtoii, of Albany, N. Y., died at Seneca Lake, April 
11th, aged twenty- four years. 

Class of '84 — James McGalliard, a member of the Sophomore Class, a 
young man of talent, died at Bridgeton, N. J., October 8th, 1881. 

EVENING SESSION. 

About 8 p M. a large audience again assembled in the audi- 
torium. 

The class of '53 was first called and T. G. Gayley, of Philadelphia, 
said one of their number died in the war. The history of each class- 
mate was briefly given.- At that time there were only thirty students 
on the roll of Lafayette College ! 

The chairman then varied the proceedings by calling upon some 
of the younger alumni. 

Rev. John J. Pomeroy, of Rah way, N. J., responded for the Quar- 
ter Century Class of '57, which was largely represented, seven of 
those present being ministers. 

He said there were thirty-seven in his class, twenty-seven graduated, four 
are dead, twelve have become ministers and the rest are all busy to-day in 
professional life. After referring to what had been accomplished by the mem- 
bers of the class, he gave way to Rev. W. W. McKinney, of the same class, 
who added that all who had sought the Bachelor's Degree had ceased the 
bachelor's life, and were married, and all had children. 

For '55 Hon. Robert P. Allen, of Williamsport, a trustee of the 
College, said : 

We do heartily rejoice to see the improvements made here. Much has 
been done for tlie advantage of the students since we attended college. In 
those days we had not the apparatus, the libraries, the museum, or even the 
curriculum of to-day. But thanks to our ardent Professors, we received an 
education that has served us well. He then showed that Lafayette had made 
up all these deficiencies, and now stands foremost in the State. The appli- 
ances here equal those of the New England institutions, and all of the alumni 
heartily rejoiced in her prosperity, and wished her continued and increasing 



38 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

success, and, he added, we liope to aid her. Our class were all Pennsylva- 
nians. Were we here for the purpose of story-telling, I should love to nar- 
rate the Munchausen career of my classmate, who was last on our roll, but 
most under our eye ; a man who has been in all the professions, but that of 
the ministry, and dwelt in every nation of the globe, verily a bird of passage 
who lights in every wood. I am compelled to state that three of our cla-s have 
been overtaken by the deplorable fate of being assigned seats in the State 
Senate or in Congress. 

When Prof. Coffin was called upon for the class of '58, he made 
an assignment of his time to the Hon. John I. Blair, of Blairstown, 
New Jersey, who had just entered the hall. When this liberal 
donor to the College funds was recognized, he was greeted with deafen- 
ing applause. This was the first time he had been on College Hill 
since his last gift, by which the chair of the President had been per- 
manently endowed in the sum of $40,000. Preferring to be a listener, 
he made but a brief speech, in his usual felicitous manner. 

'61 was represented by F. A. E. Baldwin, Esq., of Allentown. 

He said his class numbered thirty in all, and stood high in its record for 
scholarship. Graduating when the cloud of war was hanging over our nation, 
no class furnished as many men for the service of the country. Of physicians 
we have none in our number, but we will do what we can to keep our Alma 
Mater in health and vigor. 

For '72 Rev. John Fox, of Baltimore, j)astor-elect of the North 
Church, Allegheny City, said : 

That, although representing a class of seventy members, they have not been 
out of college a sufficient time to present a history. Our class, he added, was 
rather jovial, enjoying plenty of mirth and having good times generally. This 
afternoon the very heartiest congratulations were extended to Alma Mater in 
our class reunion. We feel in these reunions a.foi-ce that rejuvenates us; and 
we should all have more college patriotism. We should be more zealous in 
our endeavors to aid her, for she has done noble work in every department. 
He then spoke of the financial condition of the College, referring to the printed 
tables accompanying the President's annual reports, and showing the wonder- 
ful growth of the College during the present administration, notwithstanding 
the exceptionally hard times through which the country had passed. It is our 
duty to do more than we have ever yet attempted for our Alma Mater, and I 
hope the day will come when every one will esteem it an honor and a privi- 
lege to contribute to her resources. The crowning glory of Lafayette is her 
able and noble Faculty. I hope the work will be revived in our hearts, and 
that when we come to the fiftieth anniversary of our class, we shall be " hale 
and hearty yet." 

Rev. Charles Wood responded for '46. 

He said he was not posted in the history of his classmates, but wished a more 
close and definite organization of the alumni might be effected, so that they 
could help the noble workers in the College, the Faculty and the Trustees. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 39 

The chairman, Mr. Trippe, here said that the Lafayette Alumni 
truly had their hearts in her work. He spoke earnestly and forcibly 
of the noble work done toward the endowment of the College. His 
eloquent remarks, to which we cannot attempt to do justice, were 
received with loud applause. 

For '62 Reuben Haines, Esq., of Elkton, Md., responded. He 
said: 

Tliere were nineteen graduates in our class. We had the oldest man of the 
College, the youngest, the liandsomest, the homeliest, the wisest and I think the 
most stupid. He gave some reminiscences of his first meeting with the great 
and nohle scholar, Dr. J. H. Coffin, and others of the Faculty. After his 
examination by Prof. March, he asked the Professor some questions, but the 
Doctor gently replied that he was not on examination ! He gave an amusing 
account of his own appearance upon the Commencement stage upon his gradu- 
ation. His was the last class that received their diplomas from President 
McPhail, to wliom he paid a warm and well-deserved tribute. 

Rev. M, L. Cook, of Missoula, Montana, spoke of the class of 73. 

Forty-six years ago, said he, a sturdy young man, who was not afraid of toil 
came over the mountains from Bradford County to Easton, on foot, to seek an 
education. Here he studied and worked, and under the manual labor system 
of that time gained the most of his support by the labor of his own hands. For 
nearly forty years he has been an untiring pastor of a widely extended charge 
h\ the mountains of Pennsylvania, and has sent to this College more than thirty 
boys who were prepared for entrance in his own study ; among them his old- 
est son, who now would thus give expression to his aged father's devotion to 
Alma Mater. Forty-four years ago came from the same vicinity another, 
whose voice has been heard here to-day (referring to the Rev. Thomas 
Thomas), who, in like manner, made his yearly journey on foot between the 
college and tlie Bradford liills; and a useful career, too, has been his. His 
oldest son, the valedictorian of '75, sits by me. One daughter he has given to 
the missionary work in Japan: another he gave to me to cheer my distant 
home three thousand miles away — a home where Alma Mater is thought of 
daily, as we look upon our first-born son and count the years until he, too, 
following in the footsteps of his grandfathers, shall set out on his longer jour- 
ney over all the mountains that lie between, to find the family Alma Mater, 
than which I want no better destination. 

This brought out the class of '75 in the person of Rev. W. E. 
Thomas, just alluded to by the preceding speaker. 

Thirty-three men had received diplomas in his class. He spoke briefly of 
what tliey had achieved since graduation, and of the joy he and his classmates 
felt at this grand reunion of the sons of Lafayette. He was proud of the Col- 
lege. In Ohio, where he lived, there was no college equal to it — it was an 
inspiration for him to stand once more among these eminent scholars and 
teachers, and to look around upon these magnificent buildings and grounds 
iin.6. upon the unrivaled scenery. 



40 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

'81 was represented by Mr. Thomas C. Clark, of Union Theologi- 
cal Seminary, who in a few well-chosen words pledged his class to 
work for the College they all loved so well. 

When the class of '71 was called there were repeated calls for 
Prof D. B. King, who arose and told the andience that Mr. F. W. 
Edgar would respond. 

Mr. Edgar gave interesting reminiscences of his class. Thej' had contribu- 
ted to Alma Mater one member of the Board of Trnstees and three members 
of the Faculty ; and the older members of the class had occupied positions of 
influence and usefulness ; and paid a compliment to Prof. King's recently pub- 
lished articles upon the Irish question. 

E,ev. W. A. Jenks spoke for the class of '55. 

He referred to the great gathering of the sons of the College to-day ; and 
though many of them are old in years all are young in heart and full of life 
and joy, and all are readyto lend a helping hand to the mother that nurtured 
them. He emphasized the great work Lafayette had accomplished in training 
minister of the gospel. 

At this point of the meeting, as the hour was late, on the motion 
of E,ev. Dr. Heckman, the further call for class representatives was 
discontinued, and the 

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION 

was convened, Hon. A. C. Trippe remaining in the chair. A com- 
mittee of three was appointed to nominate a list of officers, viz. : 
Rev. J. J. Pomeroy, '57 ; Rev. W. A. Jenks, '55, and S. J. 
Coffin, '58. 

When this committee retired, the chairman made a stirring address 
on the duty of an alumnus to his Alma Mater. 

We should awake and bring our offerings to the institution that nourished 
us. There is now a great demand for Christian education. America calls 
upon her favorite colleges to teach their young men better philosophy, to 
point out the source of more enduring liappiness and make them abler men. 
He dwelt with great earnestness upon the importance of the study of the Bible 
in our colleges and rejoiced that this was still the fact at Lafayette as it was in 
his day a quarter of a century ago. The Faculty should be the pole of the 
battery, and we, the alumni, the wires distributing the strength and influence 
of the battery over all the land. Though classes fall yet Alma Mater lives. 
She is like a live oak on the mountains which sends its roots down deeper and 
deeper gathering nourishment and strength from the soil, and light from the 
skies. 

This address was frequently interrupted by loud apj)lause. 

The committee reported the following nominations of officers of 
the Alumni Association for the ensuing year : President, Rev. G. L. 
Shearer, '57, New York ; Vice-President, J. C. Mackenzie, '78, 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 41 

Wilkesbarre ; Treasurer, David W. Neviu, 75, Easton ; Secretary, 
Prof. S. J. Coffin, '58, Easton, with an Executive Committee of all 
the resident alumni (the last recommendation made favoring a lim- 
ited number), when on motion of the Hon. K. Snodgrass, '57, the 
Executive Committee was limited to five in number, who were sug- 
gested by the house as follows : Judge W. S. Kirkpatrick, '63, chair- 
man ; W. Gibson Field, '62 ; Francis W. Edgar, '71 ; Hon. R. 
Snodgrass, '57 ; Edward F. Stewart, '39. To which the four officers 
above were added. 

After a spirited discussion as to the form that the next gathering 
of the alumni should take, and whether a supper or other collation 
should be prepared, the meeting closed. 

The following is the letter of Hon. W. A. Porter, of '39, referred 

to above. It will be read with great interest by all the alumni, who 

will ever hold in honor these fathers of the College of whom it 

speaks : 

Philadelphia, June 20tli, 1882. 

Rev. William C. Cattell, D. D., President of Lafayette College : 

Dear Sir : I liave mentioned to you tliiit I expect to sail for Europe on 
the 28th inst., and that I shall, therefore, be unable to attend the semi-centen- 
nial celebration of the College. On this occasion much will doubtless be 
said, and much ought to be said, of the men who have labored within its 
walls to produce the great results which have come about. If I were able to 
attend, I would say something in regard to a few of the men who helped to 
originate it, and who did their work, not so much in the College as outside 
of it, in the community in which they lived. I have often thought of the 
little meeting which took place at Wliite's Hotel on the 27th of December, 
1824, and wondered whether, but for that meeting, any college would ever 
liave existed at Easton. It was convened by means of a circular written by 
James M. Porter. Its chairman was Thomas McKeen. The committee 
appointed to prepare a memorial to the Legislature for a charter of incorpo- 
ration were James M. Porter, Joel Jones and Jacob Wagener. I would speak 
of these gentlemen in this order. 

1. Mr. Porter entered on his profession as a lawyer, equipped with all the 
learning appropriate to it; and during his entire life lie was a diligent student 
of the law. His briefs showed the most elaborate preparation in regard to 
dates, amounts, distances, names of parties and witnesses and especially of the 
decided cases. He liad great faith in the close investigation of the facts of 
every case in which he was employed, and where the controversy related to 
any place or particular tract of land, he never failed to visit it in person. He 
seemed to trust to nothing but preparation. When, however, a new point of 
fact or law arose during a trial, he appeared to be more at home than ever ; 
and here his quickness of perception gave him the greatest advantage. It was 
always a matter of doubt whether he was more able in the discussion of a ques- 
tion of law before the court or a question of fact before the jury. He certainly 
was one of the ablest advocates the State of Pennsylvania ever produced. When 



42 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

he appeared in the Supreme Court, his arguments commanded marked atten- 
tion, and lie took rank there with'the ablest men of his day. It seemed to be 
impossible even for a court to put him down or to disconcert him, and such 
was his liumor and skill in repartee that the judge who entered into a con- 
troversy with him had seldom much to boast of when the contest ended- 
Wlien he entered the cabinet of President Tyler as Secretary of War, he 
became one of tlie associates of Mr. Webster. A conversation which I once 
had with that gentleman showed me the high appreciation whicli he had 
formed of his colleague. 

It would be difficult to give any adequate idea of all Mr. Porter did for 
Lafayette College. He served twenty-five years as President of its Board of 
Trustees, and during all this time his pen was diligently employed in enlist- 
ing public interest in its behalf. He gave to it largely of his own means : 
but this cost him little effort, for no man ever had a more supreme contempt 
for the acquisition of money. He went further and encouraged others to give, 
who had larger means. He lectured, without charge, as professor of jurispru- 
dence, and his reputation as a jurist attracted students from a distance. It is 
to be hoped the time will never come when such unremitting efforts on 
behalf of the College, commenced in its veiy infancy and continued through 
its darkest days, shall cease to be remembered by those who rejoice in its final 
success. 

2. Colonel Thomas McKeen, then one of the first citizens of Easton, was 
properly selected to preside at the meeting at White's Hotel. He became the 
first treasurer of the College, and acted as such for many years, keeping its 
books and accounts with a regularity and accuracy in which few men could 
have excelled him. He gave to it liberally of his means and frequently made 
advances to help it in its extreme needs. He was a man of dignified appear- 
ance, and kind, gentle and winning in his manners. Where his judgment 
was asked, he gave it promptly and decidedly, and in every matter of business 
his conclusions were eminently sound. He accumulated property tliat he 
might do good ; and many of the men who have contributed to the develop- 
ment of Easton and its institutions, received from him their first aid- His 
home was the seat of generous hospitality, and strangers who came to see the 
College or introduce their sons, seldom failed tQ become his guests. It was 
the Church, however, that had the first place in his thoughts. For two-thirds 
of a century he was a consistent member of it, and, for the larger part of that 
time, an efficient ruling elder. He died in profound faith in its teachings, 
and in that peace which the world cannot give and cannot take away. When- 
ever I wish to think of one of the finest models of an upright citizen and 
Christian gentleman I turn, naturally, to Colonel McKeen. 

3. Joel Jones was a man of large legal knowledge. When appointed with 
Mr. Eawle and Mr. Wharton to revise the civil code of the State, those gen- 
tlemen expressed to their friends surprise that a man of so little prominence 
should have made such acquisitions in the law — little knowing how many 
wearisome years he had spent in that small office in the northwestern corner 
of your public square in studying the principles of jurisprudence. He did 
good service to the State as one of the revisers of our code, and some of the 
reports of the commissioners, which make the most important suggestions, 
were written by him. Some parts of the new system were remodeled and 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 43 

rewritten exclusively by liim, as, for example, the disposition of tlie estates of 
intestates, and liaving been passed by the Legislature without the change of a 
word, they have scarcely been touched down to the present day. He was 
subsequently appointed an associate judge and then president judge of the 
District Court of Philadelphia, and his memory is yet cherished by the bar of 
that city and the community, who remember the firm, impartial and dignified 
but kindly manner in which the law was administered by him as a judicial 
magistrate. Girard College never did a better thing than when it made him 
its first president, and the career of usefulness on wliich that institution 
entered is largely due to the wise manner in which he interpreted the will of 
Mr. Girard and the legal provisions enacted concerning it. In a few years 
he seemed to have found the office of president irksome, and returned to his 
fiivorite pursuit of studying and practicing the law. Immediately thereupon 
he was nominated as a candidate for Mayor of the city of Philadelphia, and 
was elected by a large popular vote. On retiring from this office he returned 
again to the law, and the force of his speech and his pen was frequently felt 
in our courts. He also wrote for the magazines of the day on literary, phil- 
osophic and religious subjects. The volume published after his death, which 
he had modestly entitled " Notes on Scripture," will long attest the tliought 
which lie gave to the profoundest themes with which the human mind can 
become conversant. 

4. Jacob Wagener was in early life a merchant. He had not the advantage 
of early collegiate training. From boyhood he devoted a part of his time to 
the study of English literature, and his editions of the works of the best 
authors in prose and in poetry, which remain in jjossession of his descend- 
ants, show how diligently and critically he studied these works. As soon as 
he had acquired in liis business a suitable competency, he gave up business 
and applied himself with renewed vigor to literature and to science. He 
devoted much time to tlie study of mineralog^', and read the works of the 
best authors on that subject. He made a collection of the minerals, first of 
Pennsylvania, and then of the other States. He entered into correspondence 
with the representatives of our government abroad, and by their aid and the 
expenditure of considerable sums of money, he enriched his collection from 
foreign countries. His cabinet is now in possession of the College. In botany 
he made some progress, but the specimens which he collected have not been 
preserved. He was a quiet, refined and polished gentleman, conscientious in 
every act, and he sympathized heartily in the wants and sorrows of others. 
He was one of the small number wlio met in December, 1824, at the hotel of 
Mr. White, and took part as one of the committee appointed by the cliairman 
to draft a memorial to the Legislature for a charter. His fine, critical powers 
aided the committee in their work, and he employed his pen in correspond- 
ence with the members of the Legislature who were to act on the proposed 
charter. He became a member of the first board of trustees and continued 
to act as such, until his health began to decline. When no longer physically 
able to serve in the board, his good wishes followed those who were endeavor- 
ing to put the institution on the foundation which it has since reached. 

In conclusion, my dear Doctor, I can only add to tliese meagre sketches, my 
own best wishes for the success of the College in all time to come. 

Yours, very sincerely, Wm. A. Porter. 



44 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

THE COMMENCEMENT ASSEMBLY. 

On Tuesday evening the seventh annual assembly was held in 
Able Hall, under the patronage of Mrs. F. Michler, Mrs. C. F. 
Chidsey, Mrs. W. H. Davis, Mrs. J. C. Kent, Mrs. W. W. Marsh 
and Mrs. H. D. Lochenour. Rarely has such an assemblage of 
youth and beauty graced any similar social event in Easton. The 
music, as rendered by the Germania Orchestra, was perfect. At 
twelve o'clock elegant refreshments were served. All the arrange- 
ments were admirable and reflected credit upon those who had the 
matter in charge. 

Wednesday, June 28th — Commencement Day. 

The forty-seventh annual Commencement of Lafayette College 
was appointed to be held on the front campus at nine o'clock, Wednes- 
day morning. Before that time arrived, however, threatening 
clouds rendered it expedient to remove the exercises to Pardee Hall, 
and soon the great auditorium was filled to overflowing with one of 
the most brilliant audiences that has yet graced that most beautiful 
hall, and a pleasant breeze, which blew in through the open windows, 
rendered the room far from uncomfortable in spite of its over- 
crowded condition. 

The Germania Orchestra throughout the exercises discoursed 
most exquisite music. The Senior Class occupied the seats reserved 
for them immediately in front of the stage. Upon the stage with 
President Cattell sat members of the Faculty and Board of Trus- 
tees. After invoking God's blessing upon the proceedings. Dr. 
Cattell announced that in answer to a petition from the students, 
the Trustees had extended the summer vacation two weeks ; the 
first term of next year thus beginning Thursday, September 14th. 
The announcement was received by the undergraduates with no 
small enthusiasm. 

The programme of orations was as follows : 

1. f Honorary Oration Latin Salutatory 

Marcus Bacliinan Lambert, Stouts, Pa. 

2. Oration ^stheticism 

Robert Henry Agnew Boyd, Belvidere, N. J. 

3. Oration Novel Readers and Novel Writers 

Judson Perry Welsh, Orangeville. 

4. Oration The Restfulness of Truth 

Jolin James Chester, Columbus, O. 



t Equal in rank. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE 45 

5. t Honorary Oration (Classical) Insufficiency of Nature 

Orriii Serfass, Easton. 
Music. 

6. Oration The Master Art 

Wallace Scott Harlan, Coatesville, Pa. 

7. t Honorary Oration (Astronomical) Telescopic Distances 

John Wesley Niite, Easton. 

8. Oration Abuse of the Legal Profession 

Louis Gnstave Scliultz, Piullipsburg, N. J. 

9. Oration • ■ Silent Forces 

Edward Lambert Herbert, St. Clair. 

10. Oration Out of Darkness into Light 

Albert David Light, Lebanon. 

11. Oration Anti-Chinese Legislation 

Quincy E. Cooknian Kendall, Lenox, Mass. 

12. t Honorary Oration (Philosophical) The Ground of Obligation 

Frederick Vanduzor Frisbie, Orwell, Pa. 
Music. 

1.3. Oration The Present Need 

Samuel Johnson McCulloch, Erwin Centre, N. Y. 

14. t Honorary Oration (Philological) . Study of English as a Means of Culture 

Milton Jacob Bliem, Slatington, Pa. 

15. Oration Literature Disenthralled 

Henry D. Maxwell, Easton. 

IG. Oration Control of Monopolies 

Joseph Eoss Strawbridge, New Park, Pa. 

17. Oration Economy of Time 

Charles Herbert Talmage, St. Louis, Mo. 

18. t Honorary Oration (Matliematical) . . . Higher Uses of the Mathematics 

William Adam Seibert, Easton. 

19. Oration Science and Religion 

Frederick Starr, Auburn, N. Y. 
Music. 

20. ]\faster's Oration . . . .A Teacher's Indictment of Public School Education 

Elliott C. Armstrong, Easton. 
Music. 

PKIZES CONFERRED. 

The Folder Prize— M. J. Bliem. 
Astronomical Prize — J. W. Nute- 
The Harvey Prize — S. Williamson. 
The Early English Text Society's Prize— E. M. Green. 
The "New Shakespeare" Society's Prize— F. J. Grant. 

The Junior Mathematical Prizes— E. M. Green (Classical), G. G. E. Dates- 
man (Technical), H. H. Pounds (Honorable Mention). 



t Equal in Rank. 



46 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

The Junior Orator Prizes — G. S Herring, first; C. A. Walker, second; H. 
H. Pounds, third. 

The Lyman Coleman Biblical Prizes— Division A — J. T. Green, first ; H. 
M. Berkly, second. Division B— J. B. Sliaw, first; H. F. Marx, second. 

Music. 
21. f Honorary Oration Positive Convictions 

With the Valedictory Address. 

Lewis Kedner Dalrymple, Lock Haven, Pa. 

Music. 

Degrees Conferred. 

Benediction. 

The orations were well delivered, and, throughout the long pro- 
gramme, were listened to by the audience with the closest attention. 
At the conclusion of the speaking. President Cattell assumed his 
official robes and conferred the degrees as follows : 

Degree of A. B.— E. H. A. Boyd, N. J. ; J. W. Campbell, Pa. ; J. J. Chester, 
O. ; L. E. Dalrymple, Pa. ; J. F. Day, Pa. ; M. Frazer, 111. ; F. V. Frisbie, Pa. ; 
W. J. Fulton, Pa. ; W. S. Harlan, Pa. ; E. S, Herbert, Pa. ; Q. E. C. Kendall, 
Mass. ; A. C. LaBarre, Pa. ; M. B. Lambert, Pa. ; C. H. Lerch, Pa. ; A. D. 
Light, Pa. ; E. D. Mcgulloch, 111. ; O. D. McHenry, Pa. ; H. M. Marple, Mo 
H. D. Maxwell, Pa. ; J. B. Myers, Pa ; G. W. North, Pa. ; G. F. Sandt, Pa, 
W. A. Seibert, Pa. ; O. Serfass, Pa. ; O. D. Skinner, O. ; J. E. Strawbridge, Pa 
E. D. Walter, Pa. ; J. P. Welsh, Pa. ; E. F. Mordough, M. D., '77 ; E. H. 
Hamill, M. D., '78. 

Degree of Ph. B.— M. J. Bliem, Pa. ; J. C. Edgar, N. Y, ; J. C. Patton, Pa. ; 
L. J. Schultz, N. J. ; W. F. Victor, N. J. 

Degree of B. S. — P. Carskaddon, Pa. ; E. Lewers, Pa. ; S. J. McCulloch, 
N. Y. ; C. S. Melvin, Cal. ; W. B. Myers, Pa.; F. Starr, N. Y.; G. D. Thomas, 
Pa. ; E. D. Wetmore, Pa. 

Degree of B. S. in the Chemical Course — J. T. Baker, Pa. 

Degree of B. S. in the Mining Course — H. S. Gay, Pa. 

Degree of C. E.— J. W. Nute, Pa. ; C. H. Talmage, Mo. 

President Cattell then announced that the Board of Trustees, 
at their meeting on the day before, had conferred the following 
honorary degrees : 

LL. D. — His Excellency Henry M. Hoyt (class of '49), Governor of Pennsyl- 
vania ; Professor Edward A. Bowser, of Eutgers College. 

D. D. — Joseph Stevens, class of '42 ; Eev. Joseph Beggs, class of '51 ; Eev. 
Alfred H. Kellogg. 

Ph. D. — Lemuel G. Grier, class of '56, Principal of the Mountain Seminary ; 
James C. Mackenzie, class of '78, Principal of the Wilkesbarre Academy. 

A. M. — Dr. Thomas Wistar, Philadelphia; Eev. Mungo Eraser, St. Thomas, 
Ontario, Canada. 

t Equal in Rank. 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 47 

The audience was then dismissed with the benediction by Rev. J. 
W. Wood, D. D., '38, of Allentown, Pa., the oldest living ministerial 
graduate of the College. 

COMMENCEMENT DINNER. 

Immediately after the Commencement exercises, a procession was 
formed under the trees in front of South College to march toward 
Able Opera House, where the annual Commencement dinner had 
been prepared by the ladies of Easton. Marshaled by Prof Young- 
man, the procession moved in the following order : 

1. Kinggold Band. 

2. Senior Class as an escort. 

3. Trustees. 

4. Faculty. 
0. Clergy. 

6. Alumni, in order of classes, and their friends. 

Upon arriving at the Opera House the Senior Class separated into 
two lines, allowing the rest of the procession to pass between them, 
and falling in behind passed in this order to the Hall above. Here 
stood five tables extending the whole length of the spacious room, 
surrounded by a bevy of Easton's fair ladies, whose kind hands had 
prepared the viands which loaded them down, and arranged the 
beautiful flowers which decorated them. We cannot sufficiently ex- 
press our thanks to these ladies, who undertook and so successfully 
accomplished the task of providing for the large number who were 
present on this occasion. 

Eev. George C. Heckman, D. D., '45, said grace, after which all 
did ample justice to the good things set before them. 

During the toasts which followed the dinner, Dr. Cattell presided. 
After the singing of 122d Psalm, the President made a few happy 
remarks, concluding by proposing the toast " Ario Pardee," the great 
benefiictor of Laftiyette. Mr. Pardee arose amid loud and long con- 
tinued cheering and made a brief speech, remarkable for its charac- 
teristic modesty and good sense. Hon. John I. Blair followed in a 
speech replete with ready wit and amusing incident, keeping the audi- 
ence in a roar of laughter from beginning to end. He concluded by 
proposing to the alumni that they should make the professors " cheer- 
ful " by endowing two or more professorships, himself offering to 
give one-fourth of the amount, provided eighty thousand dollars was 
raised. This proposal was greeted with loud cheers, in the midst of 



48 REPORT OF COMMENCEMENT WEEK. 

which, Mr. Blair sat down. Mr. G. W. Kidd, of Houston, Texas, 
the holder of the first diploma given by the College, was the next 
speaker. He gave many interesting reminiscences of the early days 
at Lafayette, closing with a glowing tribute to the ladies of Easton. 
He was followed by David M. Stiger, '39, of New York, and Dr. G. C. 
Heckman, '45, ex-President of Hanover College, Ohio. The Quar- 
ter Century Class found a worthy representative in Hon. Eobert 
Snodgrass, '57, Deputy Attorney-General of Pennsylvania, who 
made a spirited address full of earnestness aud loyalty to Alma Mater, 
and especially commendatory of its curriculum of studies. 

Coming to more modern times, capital speeches were made by 
Rev. John Fox, '72, pastor-elect of the North Church, Allegheny 
City, who responded for the Decennials; and by Elliot C. Arm- 
strong, of Orange, N, J., '79, for the " Masters." The familiar Latin 
Song Lauriger Horatius was then sung with fine effect, and L. R. 
Dalrymple responded for the graduating class. Rev. Dr. W. O. 
Johnstone, of Philadelj^hia, was called upon to speak to " the ladies," 
which he did graceflilly, and then the benediction was pronounced 
by Rev. George L. Shearer, '57, Secretary of the American Tract 
Society, President of the Alumni Association, after which the large 
assemblage dispersed. 



THE PRESIDENT S LEVEE. 

The President's recej)tion on Wednesday evening was a splendid 
affair, thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended it. We extract the 
following notice of it from the Easton Daily Free Press : 

A more beautiful scene, a more delightful spot could not have been found 
about Easton last evening thau that presented at tlie handsome residence and 
grounds of President Cattell on College Hill. Arches of Japanese lanterns 
towered about the winding entrances to the grounds, scores of tlie same lights 
hung from trees peeping out from every branch — veritable Christmas trees. 
Long rows of them were suspended about tlie porches and porticoes. VVitli 
the flood of brightness from the illuminated dwelling and the monstrous 
torches which gave light for the band, the place was made briglit as day. The 
moon's rays beaming down from a sky hazy enough to give greater beauty 
completed the gorgeous scene. President and Mrs. Cattell received their 
guests in the parlors, members of the graduating class acting as ushers. The 
guests, after paying their respects to the host and hostess, wandered about tlie 
halls and grounds, occupied the many inviting chairs on the lawns, listened to 
the excellent music of the Bethlehem band, or partook of the bounteous enter- 
tainment provided to tempt their appetites. In all respects the levee was a 
most pleasant affair and a fitting close to the festivities of the week. 



